Friday, July 20, 2012

Breaking News Fri. July 20, 2012

We seem to be going quite mad here in the good ole USofA (and most everywhere else too) don't we?
This is what the dissolving edge of the world looks like...madness.

CNN: 14 dead, 50 wounded in shooting at Colorado theater, police chief says
USAToday: 12 dead in Colorado theater shooting
Here's a little something sent in by RJ this morning. Should give us all something to ponder over the weekend.
When I first read that genetically modified humans have already been born, I could hardly believe it. However, further research into this story featured in the UK's Daily Mail1 proved it to be true. They've really done it... they've created humans that nature could never allow for, and it's anyone's guess as to what will happen next. Even more shocking was the discovery that this is actually old news! The Daily Mail article was not dated, and upon investigation, the experiments cited actually took place over a decade ago; the study announcing their successful birth was published in 20012.Today, these children are in their early teens, and while the original study claims that this was "the first case of human germline genetic modification resulting in normal healthy children," later reports put such claims of absolute success in dispute. Still, back in 2001, the authors seemed to think they had it all under control, stating: "These are the first reported cases of germline mtDNA genetic modification which have led to the inheritance of two mtDNA populations in the children resulting from ooplasmic transplantation. These mtDNA fingerprints demonstrate that the transferred mitochondria can be replicated and maintained in the offspring, therefore being a genetic modification without potentially altering mitochondrial function." It's relevant to understand that these children have inherited extra genes—that of TWO women and one man—and will be able to pass this extra set of genetic traits to their own offspring. One of the most shocking considerations here is that this was done—repeatedly—even though no one knows what the ramifications of having the genetic traits of three parents might be for the individual, or for their subsequent offspring. Based on what I've learned about the genetic engineering of plants, I'm inclined to say the ramifications could potentially be vast, dire, and completely unexpected.

Much thanks to RJ at the Global Glass Onion and the Ozarker at Conflicted Doomer , and to Doug at 3Es News and David at ETF Daily, for all their help today!

See you all tomorrow with a documentary, don't forget to check out the blogs and sites above and linked on the sidebars as well as the forums linked at the bottom of the post.

Stay sane!


Peak Oil and Energy News
Zerohedge: Forget Libor-gate, Oil Market Manipulation Is Far Worse
MSNBC: Gas prices may go up too because of drought

TheOilDrum: Drumbeat: July 20, 2012

Reuters: Analysis: Shale oil bonanza to cost refiners billions 
Telegraph: Speculators drive up petrol prices at the pumps
Edmund King, the AA’s president says commodity speculation is artifically pushing up the price of petrol have damaging the economy as motorist have less mony to spend.

TheEconomist: Refining oil : Stormy petrol
More tough times lie ahead for oil refineries on both sides of the Atlantic
SeattleTimes: UAE minister: Oil market fairly well supplied 

WashingtonPost: In North Dakota, the gritty side of an oil boom

NPR: As Drought Kills Corn, Farmers Fight Over Ethanol
UPI: Nebraska has concerns about Keystone XL
EnergyBulletin: On the Far Side of Denial


Global Conflict
NewsTrackIndia: Was there an assassination attempt on Hillary Clinton in Israel? 
Syria rebels seize 40 prisoners in assault they say was ordered from Turkey 
VOA: Fighting Rages in Syria, UN Votes to Pull Observers
Reuters: Tens of thousands flee Syria as fighting surges

Salon: Journalism v. propaganda
Almost immediately after a suicide bomber killed five Israeli tourists in Bulgaria on Wednesday, Israeli officials, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, blamed Iran, an accusation uncritically repeated by most Western media outlets even as Bulgarian investigators warned it would be a "mistake" to assign blame before the attack could be investigated. Now, Israel, along with the U.S., is blaming Hezbollah and, therefore, Iran for the attack. Today's New York Times article by Nicholas Kulish and Eric Schmitt -- headlined "Hezbollah Is Blamed for Attack on Israeli Tourists in Bulgaria" -- uncritically treats those accusations as confirmed fact despite no evidence being offered for it:
MSNBC: Report: Ex-Gitmo detainee is not Bulgaria suicide bomber
NYT: Hezbollah Is Blamed in Attack on Israeli Tourists in Bulgaria
WashingtonPost: Attack on Israeli tourists prompts fears of escalating 'shadow war'

JPost: Bulgaria using DNA from bomber's fingers to identify him 
CNN: Bulgaria investigators seek clues to suicide bomber's identity
 
NYT: Assad Troops Force Rebels to Retreat in Damascus Battle
Reuters: Syrian forces stretched, intelligence chief dies
SeattlePI: Syrian troops seize Damascus neighborhood

Spiegel: The World from Berlin 'End of the Assad Regime Is Coming' - Wednesday's attack on leading government officials could mark a turning point in the battle to overthrow the Assad regime in Syria. That, at least, is what the country's opposition is hoping. German media commentators tend to agree.

Guardian: Colombian Indians put armed Farc rebels on trial
NYT: Israel Is Forced to Rethink Its Regional Strategies

Reuters: U.S. Navy's "Great Green Fleet" debuts in Pacific
Guardian: US Navy defends 'great green fleet' from Republican attacks

CSMonitor: Young North Korean leader takes control of economy from military
TimesUnion: Mass. man admits guilt in plot to blow up Pentagon


OWS/Protests
Guardian: Ian Tomlinson death: Simon Harwood cleared of manslaughter


Domestic Financial News
MyBudget360: The sinister nature of inflation – historic droughts push food costs up impacting 46 million Americans on food stamps. What happens when everything gets more expensive and incomes fall?
USAToday: Unemployment rates rise in 27 states as more look for work

CNNMoney: Private student loan debt reaches $150 billion -Americans have racked up $150 billion in private student loan debt, with many graduates owing more than they can afford, according to a new report from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. 


CNNMoney: Barclays the biggest Libor liar? No, that may have been Citi
NPR: Public Pensions Are About To Look Less Healthy

Bottomline: Wealthy homeowners brace for 'fiscal cliff'

Businessweek: Oops! Existing Home Sales Fall 
Reuters: Auto companies to add jobs, expand plants: survey

Salon: America’s grand tax lie - For all the superheated rhetoric of yet another election cycle, it's as clear as ever that the Republican and Democratic parties in Washington pretty much support the same economic policies. Indeed, any honest perusal of congressional votes proves that the party establishments are roughly the same when it comes to financial deregulation (less of it), job-killing free trade (more of it), bailouts (more of them) and corporate taxes (less of them).

SoberLook: Rent increases pushing up housing starts but will also impact CPI
WSJ: Google's Profit Up 11% on Higher Paid Clicks
MSNBC: Millionaires upbeat about economy, survey shows

Zerohedge: Another Double Digit Negative Philly Fed Print Means Fourth Miss In A Row
BBC: Microsoft makes first ever loss

Bloomberg: Gross Says U.S. Nearing Recession as BlackRock Sees Fed Step - Bill Gross, who runs the world’s largest mutual fund at Pacific Investment Management Co., said the U.S. is approaching a recession as BlackRock Inc. (BLK) expects the Federal Reserve to take more steps to support growth.
ETFDailyNews: Economy: 20 Signs Showing The Next Recession Is Rapidly Approaching
Rollingstone: Taibbi on Democracy Now LIBOR and More | Matt Taibbi (video) - Visited with old friends Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez on Democracy Now! this morning. The topic was LiBOR, although there is a second segment that will be appearing online that covers the muni bid-rigging case as well.

VancouverSun: Ford recalls 1.6-liter Ford Escape, tells owners to stop driving
Reuters: GE second-quarter profit tops Wall Street view in "challenging" economy

LAT: Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach building at furious pace - At the edge of San Pedro Bay, home of North America's largest cargo complex, they're building new piers, wharves and rail yards at a furious pace to further dwarf the competition. So much construction is underway that the new facilities by themselves would move more freight than the entire port of Savannah, Ga., which ranks No. 4 among the continent's ports.
Bloomberg: Treasury Auctions 10-Year TIPS at Record Low Negative Yield 
WSJ: Yahoo to Pay Mayer $100 Million Over Five Years
Reuters: EXCLUSIVE-Banks in Libor probe consider group settlement-sources

Bloomberg: Buffett Says Muni Bankruptcies Set to Climb as Stigma Lifts - Warren Buffett, the billionaire chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK/A), said municipal bankruptcies are set to rise as there’s less stigma attached after three California cities opted to seek protection just weeks apart.
NYT: Economy Remains Soft In Output And Housing
SeattleTimes: US jobless claims rise to 386K on seasonal factors - The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits rose by 34,000 last week, a figure that may have been skewed higher by seasonal factors.
ABCNews: Top 6 States Facing Major Financial Stress
WSJ: NY Fed Report Advocates Limiting Some Money-Market Fund Withdrawals - The Federal Reserve Bank of New York released a report Thursday that advocates limiting some types of withdrawals from money-market funds in a bid to protect those funds from suffering the equivalent of a bank run.


Global Financial News
NTTV: The IMF explodes the myth of fiscal "credibility"
NakedCapitalism: Spain Slides
CNBC: Bank of England: US Didn't Warn Us on Libor

CNBC: Tax to Double for French With 4 Million Euros Assets -- French residents with assets valued above 4 million euros ($4.9 million) will pay more than double what they had expected in wealth taxes this year, after the country’s parliament voted through an emergency measure to raise €2.3bn for the cash-strapped government.

BusinessInsider: Even Counterfeiters Are Giving Up On The Euro
EarlyWarning: Early Indications of Weak June Global Trade
WSJ: Euro Zone Approves Spain Bank Bailout
Zerohedge: As Spanish Bailout Plan Is Accepted By Eurogroup, Valencia Announces SOS, Needs To Tap Government Liquidity Support
FistFullOfEuros: No unsecured funding please, we’re French

Zerohedge: Overnight Sentiment: Europe Threatens Market Surreality Again
Reuters: Gold last hope for Sudan to avert economic collapse


MarketWatch: ECB: Greek-backed bonds ineligible as collateral -- The European Central Bank on Friday said debt issued or fully guaranteed by the Greek government will become "for the time being ineligible" for use as collateral in monetary policy operations due to the July 25 expiration of a buyback program.

Telegraph: Debt crisis: UK housing slump will deepen, warns IMF
WSJ: China Firms Win EU Trade Case 
Spiegel: The World from Berlin: 'Merkel Is Driving Europe Into the Abyss' 

Reuters; Analysis: Hollande jobs plan aims at stability, not recovery 
Gallup: Snapshot: Faith in Spanish Banks in Free Fall 

Telegraph: Spain won't grow until 2014 as eurozone agrees bank bailout
ChannelNewsAsia: Fitch downgrades three major Japanese banks


Commodities/Metals
ETFDailyNews: Precious Metals Like Gold and Silver vs. Commodities 
Mineweb: Gold and silver markets extremely tight. Tipping point close
CommodityOnline: Silver ETF holdings hit highest since May 2011: Commerzbank

ETFDailyNews: Silver Price Manipulation: CFTC v. Dollar Hegemony (SLV, AGQ, IAU, GLD, ZSL)


Environmental
USGS
M 2.6, 111km W of Larsen Bay, Alaska
M 4.5, 13km SW of Moe, Australia

BusinessInsider: Temperatures Have Exploded

ClimateCrocks: Bill McKibben: The Terrifying New Math of Climate Change

So far, though, such calls have had little effect. We’re in the same position we’ve been in for a quarter-century: scientific warning followed by political inaction. Among scientists speaking off the record, disgusted candor is the rule. One senior scientist told me, “You know those new cigarette packs, where governments make them put a picture of someone with a hole in their throats? Gas pumps should have something like that.”
Grist: A dry run from hell: Drought hits the smallest farms the hardest
NYT: Severe Drought Expected to Worsen Across the Nation

ClimateChangePsychology: Jeff Masters: Record warmth at the top of Greenland Ice Sheet - The coldest place in Greenland, and often the entire Northern Hemisphere, is commonly the Summit Station. Located at the top of the Greenland Ice Sheet, 10,552 feet (3,207 meters) above sea level, and 415 miles (670 km) north of the Arctic Circle, Summit rarely sees temperatures that rise above the freezing mark. In the 12-year span 2000-2011, Summit temperatures rose above freezing only four times, according to weather records researcher Maximiliano Herrera. But remarkably, over the past week, temperatures at Summit have eclipsed the freezing mark on five days, including four days in a row from July 11 to 14.
GlobeAndMail: In pictures: U.S. drought devastates Midwestern crops 
 A dried-out field of corn near Paris, Missouri shows drought damage.

Treehugger: The Calving Glacier Heard 'Round the World (Video)

ScienceDaily: Virus discovered in Cultus Lake sport fish - ScienceDaily (July 19, 2012) — A Simon Fraser University fish-population statistician, working in collaboration with non-government organization scientists, has uncovered evidence of a potentially deadly virus in a freshwater sport fish in B.C.

TheScientist: Climategate: Case Closed
WitsEnd: A Possible Microburst
The man at the very end of the clip whose garage and car were crushed observes that his house is fine.  In other words, there was enormous tree damage but not physical damage to buildings (other than that caused by trees).  If the wind was so powerful, why are the buildings intact?  For that answer, you would have to understand that pollution is killing trees...there is an introduction to that, here. 
UniverseToday: Aurora Over Antarctica: a “Teardrop From Heaven”
This stunning photo of the Aurora Australis, set against a backdrop of the Milky Way, was captured from one of the most remote research locations on the planet: the French-Italian Concordia Base, located located at 3,200 meters (nearly 10,500 feet) altitude on the Antarctic plateau, 1,670 km (1,037 miles) from the geographic south pole.
Arstechnica: Ideology clouds how we perceive the temperatures - If you graphed the predictive power of people's perceptions against the actual temperatures, the resulting line was flat—it showed no trend at all. In the statistical model, the actual weather had little impact on people's perception of recent temperatures.

Nature: Dumping iron at sea does sink carbon - In the search for methods to limit global warming, it seems that stimulating the growth of algae in the oceans might be an efficient way of removing excess carbon dioxide from the atmosphere after all. Despite other studies suggesting that this approach was ineffective, a recent analysis of an ocean-fertilization experiment eight years ago in the Southern Ocean indicates that encouraging algal blooms to grow can soak up carbon that is then deposited in the deep ocean as the algae die.

America in Decline
Gawker: Hello From the Underclass: Unemployment Stories, Vol. One 
LAT: LAPD tells homeless to seek shelter after 3 'death warrant' stabbings
AngryBear: U.S. Trails at Least 15 OECD Countries in Median Wealth

LAT: Compton on brink of bankruptcy - City officials announced that Compton could run out of money by summer's end, with $3 million in the bank and more than $5 million in bills due. A longer-term problem is a $43-million deficit that the city amassed after years of improperly using money from water, sewer and retirement funds to balance its general fund.
Wired: Judge OKs Nudity at TSA Checkpoint
LAT: Lawmakers give raises to aides before cutting other workers' pay


Food and Water
Reuters: Crops continue to bake in searing heat, no relief for weeks

BigPictureAgriculture: Hot 5: Midwest Drought 2012. Corn Usage Pie Charts. Vilsack Comic. CC Precipitation Maps. Faraday Porteur.
Guardian: Farm Bill budget cuts will mean millions of Americans go hungry

NYT: Japanese Consumers Reconsidering Rice Loyalty — In the four months that Walmart has been selling low-cost Chinese rice here, the big American retailer has struggled to keep shelves stocked at some stores. A Japanese chain, Beisia, also sold Chinese-grown rice for the first time this year but quickly ran out.
Bloomberg: Weakest Monsoon Since 2009 To Shrink India Rice Harvest

FT: World braced for new food crisis - The world is facing a new food crisis as the worst US drought in more than 50 years pushes agricultural commodity prices to record highs.

Privacy News
NetworkWorld: EFF: Americans may not realize it, but many are in a face recognition database now - People are not going to, nor should they have to, start walking around outside with a bag over their head to avoid security cameras capturing images of them. Yet "face recognition allows for covert, remote and mass capture and identification of images -- and the photos that may end up in a database include not just a person's face but also how she is dressed and possibly whom she is with. This creates threats to free association and free expression not evident in other biometrics," testified EFF Staff Attorney Jennifer Lynch about What Facial Recognition Technology Means for Privacy and Civil Liberties.

Slashdot: Facebook and Wal-Mart Join Forces


Science and Technology
PopSci: Navy's New Slab of Precision-Honed Granite--the World's Largest--Will Improve Microgravity Studies
ScienceBlog: Children abused by parents face increased cancer risk - Frequent abuse by a parent can increase a child’s cancer risk in adulthood, and the effects are especially significant when mothers abuse their daughters and fathers abuse their sons, according to new research from Purdue University.
Slate: Blogging the Human Genome
MSNBCPhotoblog: Three years of night sky wonders in three minutes
ScientificAmerican: How to Resurrect a Mammoth Protein [Interactive]
io9: Astronomers discover nearby exoplanet covered in magma [Video] 
Nature: Theorists feast on Higgs data


Medical and Health
Spectrum: Nanoparticle Completely Eradicates Hepatitis C Virus
CNN: What exercises can battle Alzheimer's?
ScienceDaily: Beneficial bacteria may help ward off infection 

NYT: The Evolution of Bird Flu, and the Race to Keep Up - On May 20, a 10-year-old girl in rural Cambodia got a fever. Five days later, she was admitted to a hospital, and after two days of intensive care she was dead. The girl was the most recent documented victim of the influenza virus H5N1, a strain that has caused 606 known human cases and 357 deaths since it re-emerged in 2003 after a six-year absence.

MLive: Family works to raise awareness about whooping cough as CDC reports alarming rise in cases

SFGate: 2 more whooping cough cases confirmed in RI
USAToday: Whooping cough could reach highest levels since 1959
LAT: Amid severe outbreak, is it time for a whooping cough booster?

CNNHealth: Physical inactivity causes 1 in 10 deaths worldwide, study says
BodyOdd: Smells like nostalgia: Why do scents bring back memories?ScienceDaily: Vitamin D may protect lung function in smokers 


Doomsteading, Gardening, Urban Farming
CanadianDoomer: Do You Have Your Canner Yet?
Treehugger: 3 Answers to the Question, "What's Wrong With My Tomato Plant?"


Other News
WashingtonPost: Racial profiling trial begins for Ariz. sheriff
LAT: After nasty fight, Muslims get new mosque -- but not for Ramadan
NPR: Guards To Go On Strike Amid Olympic Security Woes

Telegraph: WikiLeaks: Bradley Manning barred from citing evidence during trial
WikiLeaks suspect Bradley Manning has been barred from citing evidence at his trial alleging he caused no serious harm to the United States when he released a massive trove of secret government documents.

LAT: Slaying suspects had 'sex dungeon,' search warrants show
A Marine and two others accused of killing Brittany Dawn Killgore were heavily involved in fetishes and bondage, documents show.
NationalPost: Barrie residents set to return home after week-long search turns up 83 bombs, submachine gun 

NYDaily: Zimmerman calls 'The View' after Barbara Walters walks away from interview meeting
ABCNews: Zimmerman Interview May Now Be Evidence
WKMZOrlando: Local 6 exclusive: George Zimmerman criticizes own defense team

ABC: Troops Get OK to March in Gay Parade _ in Uniform


Politics
LAT: American Crossroads comes to Romney's rescue with new Obama attack
Gallup: Majority of Americans Want Romney to Release Tax Returns
MSNBC: Can Romney selectively edit his way out of Bain, tax stories?

Swampland: Why God Invented C-SPAN: McCain on Huma Abedin 
LAT: Michele Bachmann tops a team of conspiracy-crazed clowns 
Rawstory: O’Reilly: Obama wants to ‘restrain capitalism’ because of slavery ‘grievances’

ABCNews: Boston Mayor Vows to Keep Chick-Fil-A out of City 
CNBC: Tea Party Now WANTS to Avoid Government Shutdown 
LAT: Late Night: Jon Stewart ties Michele Bachmann to Islamic terrorism 


Forums
TinfoilPalace: Nucular False Flag at London Olympics?
TinfoilPalace: War In October


OilAge: Can A Satellite Read Your Thoughts?
OilAge: Major cities choose bankruptcy (renamed)

HubbertsArms: Want to live forever? Have your brain dumped into a robot ...
HubbertsArms: Apple Crop will be poor this year


SilentCountry: The Good News Thread

SilentCountry: This years US drought in top 10 largest since 1895


DestinyCalls: Unexplained Magazine.
DestinyCalls: Timeline shifting events :Or Abe Vigoda never dies

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