Breaking News Mon. Feb. 13, 2012

 Here it is Monday again, where did the weekend go??? LOL

Hope all are well and had a good weekend, Looks like interesting news lining up for the week. Poor Greece is being dismantled by big greedy banks but they ain't going down without a fight! 

My friend Faith sent the following poem that she wrote for us. She's writing a song! I think you all will enjoy it.

Thanks Faithy! :D Good stuff!

Singularity

I'd like to tell the story of a future paradigm

When possibilities are endless; exponentially divine,

Some will choose to worry while others are elated

Cause' the sting of death has ended; immortality not fated.

What is this thing we sing, how does it effect our story?

Well just look to Artificiallness to bring us all our glory'

The philosophy of MIPS and the intelligence explosion

Is the cause of fear for some that there's a sentient erosion.

“Ultra Intelligence”, some say with faith, is part of evolution

It may just be salvation and this planets lone solution

So I sing to you with leeriness but the message here is clear,

We may want to change our paradigm, singularity is near

Singularity they call it and it's coming rather quickly,

The transfer of flesh to silicon is making some quite sickly

But so did phones and microwaves that today we would not skip,

So let us pass the Turing test and all become a chip.

 We managed to have a few days of winter here but temps are headed back up and I find it hard to be sad about warmer weather. Especially with kerosene at almost 5$ a gal. here.

Much thanks to RJ at the Global Glass Onion and the Ozarker at Conflicted Doomer for their help finding good stories for us today. I hope everyone visited RJ's Friday financial wrap up post and the Ozarker's new post put up on Saturday! Please continue to encourage and support their good works.
Also,
Check out RJ's writings over at FireDogLake today too!
The fraudclosure bailout, a dysfunctional congress, consumer credit, et al

If you are someone new to prepping or trying to come to grips with the new reality in this country, you can find like minded folks with plenty of support and advice born of experience by visiting the forums linked at the bottom of this post.  

Japan
DesdemonaDespair: In Fukushima, a confused nuclear cleanup – ‘It’s a scam’
LegitGov: Japan OKs fresh support for Fukushima nuclear plant operator Tepco 
JapanTimes: Nuke dangers nowhere near resolved: Kan's crisis adviser The Japan Times Online: In December, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda announced the "conclusion" of the meltdown crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, saying Tokyo Electric Power Co. was managing to keep the three crippled reactors cool, as well as the facility's spent fuel pools. Hiroshi Tasaka But a former special adviser to Naoto Kan, who was prime minister when the crisis started, warned that the situation is far from resolved and said Fukushima has exposed a raft of serious nuclear problems that Japan will have to confront for years. "I would say (the crisis) just opened Pandora's box," Hiroshi Tasaka, who has a doctorate in nuclear engineering and is now a professor at Tama University, said in a recent interview with The Japan Times. He was one of a select group who glimpsed the secret worst-case scenario document written up by the Japan Atomic Energy Commission on March 25 that was later reportedly quashed by the government.
SeattleTimes: Thousands march against nuclear power in Japan - Thousands of Japanese people marched against nuclear power Saturday, amid growing worries about the restarting of reactors idled after the March 11 meltdown disaster in northeastern Japan.
Bloomberg: Tepco Says Fukushima Reactor Temperature Breaches Safety Limit

Global Conflict
BlacklistedNews: The Pentagon has drawn up plans for military intervention in Syria.
JerusalemPost: Clinton condemns 'cowardly' attacks on Israel embassies
Time: Syria Rebels Plot Their Next Moves: TIME's Exclusive 
Spiegel: Interview With Gulf Ruler: Bahrain's King Says Assad Should Listen to His People
Reuters: Athens buildings burn as lawmakers weigh austerity

ANN: Mob storms Maldives National Museum, destroys Buddhist statues
TheSun: Egyptians rally against military rulers outside ministry

 FT: Athens erupts in violent protests 

NYT: India Defends Oil Purchases From Iran 

Zerohedge: Why Are We Fighting On the Same Side with Al Qaeda?
WSJ: Blast Hits Israeli Diplomat's Car
VOA: Pakistan Political Crisis Deepens As Court Indicts PM
Zerohedge: Athens - The Morning After: 48 Buildings On Fire, 150 Looted, Hundreds Arrested
UPI: Plea to U.N.; Send peacekeepers
WashingtonPost: Bombs target Israeli diplomats in India, Georgia; 2 injured
Atlantic: Why Israeli Leaders Might Believe Attacking Iran Is Worth the Effort
NYDaily: Israel blames Iran after diplomat injured
NYT: Expanded Role Proposed for Elite Military Forces
BBC: Senior Afghan Taliban leader, Mullah Obaidullah, is dead
ABC; Bodyguard tells of Saadi Gaddafi's escape Bloomberg: Ahmadinejad’s ‘Major’ Nuclear Progress Comment Follows Rhetorical Pattern 
SeattlePI: US admiral says forces prepared to confront Iran

NYT: Admiral Seeks Freer Hand in Deployment of Elite Forces 

OWS
FDL: Occupy Nashville: The End Is (Thursday) Nigh
PruningShears: Concerning violence advocates and the Black Bloc in Occupy.
TruthOut: Occupy Movement Regroups, Preparing for Its Next Phase - Far from dissipating, groups around the country say they are preparing for a new phase of larger marches and strikes this spring that they hope will rebuild momentum and cast an even brighter glare on inequality and corporate greed. But this transition is filled with potential pitfalls and uncertainties: without the visible camps or clear goals, can Occupy become a lasting force for change? Will disruptive protests do more to galvanize or alienate the public?
PlutocracyFiles: Occupy Oaklander Faces 8 Felony Charges


Hacker News
BusinessInsider: CIVIL WAR AT NEWS CORP: British Editor Accuses Police Of 'Witch-Hunt'
PlutocracyFiles: Anonymous Message to Greek Government
TechReview: Aaron Swartz Hacks the Attention Economy - For Aaron Swartz, sharing files on the Internet isn't just fun and profitable. It's existential. The 25-year-old programmer faces criminal charges that he hacked into MIT's computer system and downloaded 4.8 million journal articles with the intent of posting them online. He pleaded not guilty, but according to a manifesto he penned in 2008 it is precisely such acts of online civil disobedience that are needed to bring rampant Internet file sharing "into the light" and challenge "unjust laws."
Independent: Eight arrests as Murdoch 'throws staff to the wolves'
MSNBC: Microsoft India store down after hackers take user data  - The hacker claims that the data had been found unencrypted on the website

Domestic Financial News
 BeforeItsNews: Leading Economist: “We’re In a No Win Situation… This Is End of the World Type Stuff” *Video*

MyBudget360: United States of Dollar Stores – dollar stores see a rise in households making $70,000 a year or higher as a customer base. What does the rise of dollar stores say about the middle class?
iCite: Jobs? You're joking. Right?
CapitalGainsAndGames: NY Times Identifies New Disease: Federal Budget Schizophrenia
CNN: President Obama will present his 2013 budget plan Monday
MSNBC: Uncle Sam leads the pack in job cutting
Barron's: Enter the Bull
Reuters: Obama's election-year budget to target rich
LAT: Mortgage settlement is great — for politicians and banks
SCMonitor: Lessons for US in Greek debt deal?
Bloomberg: Obama Budget Unique Source for $3 Trillion
AngryBearBlog: Welfare, I'm not hurting from it and neither are you. 
IBTimes: Strengthen the United States: Cut Pentagon’s Budget 50%
NBCPolitics: The fight begins: Obama's budget going to CongressBloomberg: Regulations Create Jobs, Too - Vilified on the campaign trail, government rules often create as many jobs as they kill
McClatchy: Manufacturing rebounds, but is it a renaissance?EconomistsView: Fed Watch: It's Worse Than You Think
Bloomberg: U.S. Stocks Rise on Greek Austerity Vote
DollarsAndSense: The Great Recession in Black Wealth  - White wealth reaches historic high of twenty times black wealth.
Grist: The McMansion trend has peaked



Global Financial News
Independent: Rothschild loses libel case, and reveals secret world of money and politics - Thanks to billionaire's legal battle, we now know a lot more about how the super-rich work 
BusinessWeek: European Leaders 'Confident' Greece Meeting Bailout Demands
ETFDailyNews: Eurozone: Nice Rally, But Risk Still Palpable On Greek Death Spiral

BlacklistedNews: This Is What An Economic Depression Looks Like In The 21st Century

CharlesHughSmith: The First Dominoes: Greece, Reality, and Cascading Default

FT: China tells banks to roll over loans - China has instructed its banks to embark on a mammoth roll-over of loans to local governments, delaying the country’s reckoning with debts that have clouded its economic prospects.
SPIEGEL: Interview with George Soros: 'Merkel Is Leading Europe in the Wrong Direction'
WSJ: Greece Faces More Hurdles
Mish: Athens Burning: Tens of Banks in Flames After Athens Passes Austerity Bill

NakedCapitalism: The killing of Greece - As you have probably heard, the Greek parliament, if you can still call it that, has passed the austerity bill. Overnight Athens has erupted in protest with a reported 80,000 people on the streets and up to 30 buildings on fire.
Mish: Total Chaos; Riots Rage; Athens Resembles War Zone
Reuters: Schaeuble warns Greek promises no longer suffice Greek promises on austerity measures are no longer good enough because so many vows have been broken and the country that has been a "bottomless pit" has to dramatically change its ways, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said. In a hard-hitting interview with the Welt am Sonntag newspaper, Schaeuble also said it is up to Greece whether the country can stay in the euro zone as part of its efforts to restore its competitiveness.

Time: Greeks Facing Austerity: A Return from Euro to Drachma?

NakedCapitalism: Marshall Auerback: Greece – A Default is Better Than the Deal on Offer - Pick your poison. In the words of Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos, the choice facing Greece today in the wake of its deal with the so-called “Troika” (the ECB, IMF, and EU) is “to choose between difficult decisions and decisions even more difficult.
GlobeAndMail: Live Blog on Greek Crisis
DailyMail: Frozen to death as fuel bills soar: Hypothermia cases among the elderly double in five years Mail Online - The number of pensioners dying from hypothermia has nearly doubled in five years, a period when a succession of cold winters has been coupled with drastic rises in energy bills.
NYT: Economists Warn of Long-Term Perils in Rescue of Europe’s Banks
IBTimes: S&P Downgrades 34 Italian Banks Due to Increased Financing Risks
ETFDaily: Eurozone: Nice Rally, But Risk Still Palpable On Greek Death Spiral

Peak Oil and Energy News
OilVoice: Solo Oil halt drilling in Tanzania
UrbanFarmer: Kentucky’s First Solar-Powered Hospital
WSJ: Japan Crisis Transforms Natural-Gas Market
LegitGov: Iraq begins pumping oil to new Gulf terminal
TransitionVoice: Magical thinking: Kunstler and Berman on natural gas euphoria - (an absolute MUST listen interview!)
EIA: Bakken formation oil and gas drilling activity mirrors development in the Barnett animation
GlobeAndMail: The natural gas highway: A wide open road of opportunity 
Atlantic: The Myth of Energy Independence: Why We Can't Drill Our Way to Oil Autonomy 
CNN: European crude drives up U.S. gas prices
PeakOil.com: Shale gas estimates continue downward
FuelFix: Iraq May Bar Exxon From Oil Auction If It Pursues Kurdistan Deal 



Commodities/Metals
Mineweb: Canada opens doors to uranium trade with China
ETFDaily: Jim Rogers Out Of Step With KWN Gold Bugs 
CommodityOnline: Nickel price to be decided by investor positions not industrial demand: Norilsk
ETFDaily: “Buy and Hold” Is Not Dead When It Comes To The Precious Metals Sector 


Environmental
Discovery: Challenger Deep Bridges and New Depth Record

The deepest place on Earth is the next holy grail for the deep-sea exploration community. Only two humans have ever been down to the Mariana Trench in the western Pacific Ocean off the coast of Guam, and that was well over 50 years ago.
(wonder if it's filled with garbage?)
TreeHugger: Mass Dolphin Strandings Continue, So Do Incredible Rescue Efforts (Video)
DesdemonaDespair: Canada to kill thousands of wolves to reverse caribou decline caused by tar-sands development - By Dean Kuipers9 February 2012 Woodland caribou herds in Canada are declining, and tar sands development is a big part of the reason why.
ExtinctionProtocol: Death-toll from European deep freeze hits 540 as Danube freezes over
Grist: Keystone XL: The story of a big-ass pipeline proposal — so far
HuffingtonPost: Woolly Mammoth Video From Siberia Faces Credibility Issues

 ScientificAmerican: In the Andes, Extreme Cold Extracts Bitter Toll

America in Decline
BusinessWeek: Republicans to Continue Effort to Block Obama Contraceptive Rule
CBS: Top Republican wants vote on birth control mandate
LAT: Key Republican promises fight over birth control coverage
WashingtonsBlog: “See Something Say Something” Campaign Could Allow People to Label ANY AMERICAN a Suspected “Terrorist” … Just Like in Nazi Germany or Stasi East Germany List of Actions or Beliefs Which May Get You Labeled a Terrorist Grows Daily, Every American could – literally – be labeled a suspected terrorist under current governmental criteria.
TruthOut: Report: By a Nearly 2 to 1 Margin, Cable Networks Call on Men Over Women to Comment on Birth Control
DailyKos: Guantánamo inmate passes his 10th anniversary without charge or trial


Food and Water
WSJ: Where's the Beef? Less of It in Texas
HuffingtonPost: Trader Joe’s Signs Fair Food Agreement On Tomatoes With Immokalee Workers
MSNBC: Soapy milk, toxic apples: food safety in India

 

Internet and Online Privacy News  
Over 3 years later, "deleted" Facebook photos are still online: Photos that you think you're deleting from Facebook are still remaining on their servers years later. Ars has been following this story for nearly three years now; Facebook says it's still working on fixing the problem, but that a solution should be ready within months.
ScientificAmerican: Senators Consider Banning Automatic Media Sharing on Facebook
ArsTechnica: Path addresses privacy controversy, but social apps remain a risk to users - iOS users' address books can easily be copied by apps that call on that data, and companies that make these apps can use them for purposes you might not expect.
SFGate: US seeks to mine social media to predict future
CNN: 'Cyber cannibals' spreading fear in China
WSJ: Thousands Protest Against ACTA


Science and Technology
ANN: Masks, tombs and a theater: discovering ancient Myra
ScientificAmerican: Red Sea: Sounding Radar Buoys Evidence Mars Once Had an Ocean 
CNN: NASA considers outpost beyond moon's far side  - Crewed mini-station in deep space would control robots on lunar surface
CNN: Astronaut feels space's toll on his body 

Medical and Health
TakePart: Child Abuse? 17-Year-Old Drops After Eating Only Chicken Nuggets Since Age 2  - Teenager taken to hospital after passing out from complications due to hazardous diet.
ExtinctionProtocol: Is a new mystery disease killing thousands in Latin America?
CNN: Proposed water safety standards criticized
MSNBC: Estrogen turns male snakes into same-sex charmers

Experiment with pheromones may shed light on environmental exposure's effects
Vitals: It's not just you -- seasonal allergies hitting early, hard
TheChart: Doctor: 'The Vow' shows our brains are stranger than fiction
ArsTechnica: LHC set to up collision rate, energy in attempt to pin down Higgs boson


Doomsteading, Gardening, Urban Farming
CanadianDoomer: Roast Them!
PreppingtoSurvive: Quote of the Week: Franklin on Preparing

By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail. ~ Benjamin Franklin

ModernSurvival: Start Prepping with Grocery Store Sales
PreppingToSurvive: The Benefits of Coconut Oil 

Other News
UPI: Russia suspends adoptions by U.S. families
CBSNews: Pop queen Whitney Houston dies at age 48
CBSNews: Whitney Houston's daughter rushed to hospital
DigitalSpy: Whitney Houston death: Apple accused of cashing in with LP price boost - Music News - Apple has been accused of exploiting the death of Whitney Houston by increasing the price of her albums on iTunes. 
RawStory: New Jersey Senate President: Same sex marriage will pass despite governor
CBS: Mystery may linger over Houston's death
MSNBC: 'Tragic accident': Pastor's daughter shot at church 

Investigators told The Associated Press that Moises Zambrana was showing his gun in a small closet to another church member interested in buying a firearm. Zambrana reportedly took out the magazine of the Reuger 9mm weapon but did not know there was a bullet in the chamber.

Time: Birth Control Debate: Why Catholic Bishops Have Lost Their Grip on U.S Politics-and their Flock

Indepentent: Saudi journalist left facing the death penalty over Twitter posts

Politics
CNN: Romney wins Maine caucuses
CBS: Obama campaign launches "truth team" 
NYT: Severe Conservative Syndrome - Mitt Romney has a gift for words — self-destructive words. On Friday he did it again, telling the Conservative Political Action Conference that he was a “severely conservative governor.” As Molly Ball of The Atlantic pointed out, Mr. Romney “described conservatism as if it were a disease.” ... That’s clearly not what Mr. Romney meant to convey. Yet if you look at the race for the GOP presidential nomination, you have to wonder whether it was a Freudian slip.
USAToday: 'National Review' calls on Gingrich to quit race
Alternet: Tax Avoidance Questions Continue To Haunt Romney


Forums
TinfoilPalace: UFO sightings at Stonefield Beach reveal strange boxes up and down coast (Oregon)
TinfoilPalace: Investigators suggest Whitney Houston murdered 
TheOilAge: China oil imports at record high 
TheOilAge: Hundreds dead in Eastern Europe cold wave 
HubbertsArms: Ice totally seals Danube River for first time since the winter of 1984-85
HubbertsArms: Max Keiser interviews Dmitri Orlov 
SilentCountry: Class Warfare for Dummies: Florida Bill Would Reduce Tipped Workers Minimum Salary  
SilentCountry: The Report the Pentagon Doesn't Want You to Read