Nigel Farage: Trapped Inside an Economic Prison
June 2nd, 2011Fukushima Residents Will Be Checked For Internal Radiation Exposure
June 2nd, 2011Via: NHK:
Fukushima Prefecture has decided to check the internal radiation exposure of residents near the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant and adjacent areas with high radiation levels.
…
A device called a “whole-body counter” will be used to precisely measure radiation.
But the prefecture currently has only one device and can screen just 10 people per day. It is urging research institutes and others with the device outside the prefecture to help them.
Fukushima is also studying whether it can fetch 2 devices from Okuma Town, which lies inside the no-go zone.
E. Coli in European Outbreak Never Seen Before
June 2nd, 2011Via: USA Today:
The E. coli bacteria responsible for a deadly outbreak that has left 18 dead and sickened hundreds in Europe is a new strain that has never been seen before, the World Health Organization said Thursday.
Preliminary genetic sequencing suggests the strain is a mutant form of two different E. coli bacteria, with aggressive genes that could explain why the Europe-wide outbreak appears to be so massive and dangerous, the agency said.
Hilde Kruse, a food safety expert at the WHO, told the Associated Press that “this is a unique strain that has never been isolated from patients before.”
European health officials tracking the outbreak, one of the worst on record, might never know where it came from. It’s a sad fact of life in food poisoning cases: There often is no smoking gun.
The germ has sickened more than 1,500 people, mostly in Germany. Most patients who have been interviewed said they ate lettuce, tomatoes or cucumbers, but officials testing produce across the continent have yet to find any vegetables with the particular strain involved.
Moody’s May Cut BofA, Citi, Wells Ratings
June 2nd, 2011Via: Reuters:
Moody’s Investors Service said it may downgrade the debt ratings of Bank of America Corp (BAC.N), Citigroup Inc (C.N) and Wells Fargo & Co (WFC.N), citing concerns about the regulatory environment facing the largest U.S. banks.
The ratings agency said on Thursday it placed the deposit, senior debt, and senior subordinated debt ratings of the three banks on review for possible downgrades.
Largest Banks Profited by Borrowing From Federal Reserve, Lending to Federal Government
June 2nd, 2011Via: Huffington Post:
A newly-released study from the Congressional Research Service bolsters claims that the nation’s largest banks profited off the Federal Reserve’s financial crisis-era programs by borrowing cash for next to nothing, then lending it back to the federal government at substantially higher rates.
The report reinforces long-held beliefs that the banking system in essence engaged in taxpayer-financed arbitrage: They got money for free, then lent it back to Uncle Sam while collecting juicy returns. Left out of the equation are the millions of everyday borrowers, like households and small businesses, who were unable to secure loans needed to tide them over until the crisis ended.
Recovery: ‘Double-Dip’ in Housing Prices Even Worse Than Expected
June 2nd, 2011Via: CNBC / Reuters:
U.S. single-family home prices dropped in March, dipping below their 2009 low, as the housing market remained bogged down by inventory and weak demand, a closely watched survey said Tuesday.
The S&P/Case Shiller composite index of 20 metropolitan areas declined 0.2 percent in March from February on a seasonally adjusted basis, in line with economists’ expectations.
The price index was below the low seen in April 2009 during the financial crisis. The glut of houses for sale, foreclosures, tight credit and weak demand have kept the housing market on the ropes even as other areas of the economy start to recover.
The 20-city composite index was at 138.16, falling below the 2009 low of 139.26.
“This month’s report is marked by the confirmation of a double-dip in home prices across much of the nation,” David Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at S&P Indices, said in a statement. “Home prices continue on their downward spiral with no relief in sight.”
Park Police Arrest People for Dancing at Jefferson Memorial
June 2nd, 2011Ok, please stop submitting this. Yes, it’s stupid that these people were arrested, but these types of tactics are a total waste of time.
If you want to protest, do it as a general strike that shuts down the Ponzi scheme economy, make a lot less taxable income, produce your own food, participate in local, outlaw food economies, remove your money from the bank, stop buying shit you don’t need.
But dancing in front of Vader’s minions? Give me a break. I wish I had a Bitcoin for every time this one was submitted. How many YouTube videos until the revolution? *sigh* The sign waving class is going to have to figure this one out the hard way.
Via: Washington Post:
We can’t know for sure what Thomas Jefferson would have thought of the arrests Saturday of five people who were dancing in his memorial. According to reports, they were grooving in silence to protest an earlier court ruling banning dance within the Jefferson Memorial.
The arrests sparked outrage galore, complete with viral videos on YouTube of the forceful police response. But overlooked is the utter irony of outlawing dance in the name of the third president. After all, this is the man who netted this nation a dance heritage with the Louisiana Purchase.
The Heavy Cost of the Bush-Obama Murder Rampage
June 1st, 2011Via: Lew Rokwell:
In every election cycle, the politicians love to pretend there is a difference among them on the foreign policy questions. Yet on these issues of unsurpassed importance, we see the Democrats and Republicans are all part of the same bloodthirsty gang.
On the superficial level of presidential politics, Obama and Bush appeared light-years apart. They play opposites in the DC-approved official culture war between those who pretend to be genuine red-blooded Americans of the heartland and those who feign an understanding of the beleaguered urban minorities and oppressed underclass, when in truth both perfectly embody the same Wall Street-Pentagon-friendly power elite. This is most clearly seen in their virtually identical approach toward empire.
Local Food Makes Strange Dining Companions
June 1st, 2011Via: The Freeman:
The litany of abuses by centralized power against the individual is long and predictable. But centralization in agriculture, that hazy realm from which our food spontaneously appears, poses its own set of dangers to individual aspirations. Now that fewer than 2 percent of the population is directly engaged in food production (down from 25 percent at the beginning of Franklin Roosevelt’s failed drive to “save the farmer”), the fact that agriculture has been massively consolidated is inescapable. While this is not entirely a bad thing (obesity now trumps hunger in our collective top-ten list of concerns), it does present a troubling side. When the vast majority of meat processing (87 percent) is done by just four companies, the system is top-heavy and fragile. Coupled with the crony-capitalism of a powerful lobby, centralized agriculture makes youthful entry into agriculture difficult and financially reckless. The local-foods movement offers an alternative to this agricultural-industrial complex, presenting producers with healthier profit potentials and reviving a more diffuse and independent agrarian production base.
Research Credit: Pookie
CONGRESS MULLS CUTS TO FOOD STAMPS PROGRAM AMID RECORD NUMBER OF RECIPIENTS
May 31st, 2011Millions of broke, hungry, armed people? What could possibly go wrong? Besides, there are robotic, long range nuclear bombers to be built.
Via: ABC News:
Congress is under pressure to cut the rapidly rising costs of the federal government’s food stamps program at a time when a record number of Americans are relying on it.
The House Appropriations Committee today will review the fiscal year 2012 appropriations bill for the Department of Agriculture that includes $71 billion for the agency’s “Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.” That’s $2 billion less than what President Obama requested but a 9 percent increase from 2011, which, critics say, is too large given the sizeable budget deficit.
A record number of Americans — about 14 percent — now rely on the federal government’s food stamps program and its rapid expansion in recent years has become a politically explosive topic.
More than 44.5 million Americans received SNAP benefits in March, an 11 percent increase from one year ago and nearly 61 percent higher than the same time four years ago.
Nearly 21 million households are reliant on food stamps.
