The Threat of Laughing Gas; Salvation in Fake Trees

From Jenna Orkin:

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Americans’ income slump biggest on record (from Rice Farmer)
Japan jobless at record
Fears for economy Business investment suffers sharpest fall in 44 years. (UK)
Greater Than One in Four FDIC Insured Institutions are Unprofitable; Bank Problem List at 15 Year High
Barney Frank Says Ron Paul's Audit The Fed Bill Will Pass in October
Federal Reserve Says Emergency-Loan Disclosures Would Hurt Banks, Economy
Racketeering 101: Bailed Out Banks Threaten Systemic Collapse If Fed Discloses Information (from Rice Farmer)
Markets In for a Bumpy Ride to a Bottom
California Taxpayers Lose $1 Billion From Unconstitutional Debt Financings
Real Unemployment at 16%
Words "For Lease" Spread Like Chicken Pox
NYC Apartment Rents Drop 7-10 Percent, National Vacancies Highest in 22 Years
Next Real Estate Bust: Office Space
Ben Bernanke "World's Most Dangerous Man"
34 Percent of Workers Have One Week or Less of Savings
Buying into the Rally, Hook, Line, and Sinker
Critically Under-Capitalized Banks Direct Result of "Wonderful Chain of Stupidity"
New Bubble Threatens Global Rebound
Obama Channeling Reagan Needs 5 Quarters of 7% GDP Growth for New Morning
'Obama Should Make Sure Cheney Is Brought to Justice'
9/11 Planner is Recast as Asset for CIA (from Rice Farmer)
German state to act as second crunch looms
German Economy Endangered by End of Rebate Scheme
Wolfgang Joop on the Crisis in the Luxury Industry'I Anticipate Many More Bankruptcies'
UK population hits 61 million
The UK population increased by a record amount last year to top 61 million for the first time, figures revealed today.

Environment/Science
'Fake trees' could fight climate change
When they can synthesize air and water, we'll be home free.
Laughing gas is biggest threat to ozone
Annual cost of climate change 'will be £190bn'
Climate change will cost the world more than £300 billion, say scientists
Measuring the Damage of our 'Water Footprint'
Planet found that defies the laws of physics
Creationist Zoo
The Dawning Age of Mind-Reading Machines

Latest Buzz on Bees

From Jenna Orkin:

Colony Collapse Disorder
Beekeepers lose one fifth of hives (UK)
Vanishing Bees
New Clues in the Mass Death of Bees

Civilization Collapse Disorder
Credit Card Delinquency Wave Reaching Tidal Force
Huge Plunge In Mortgage Cure Rates Portends Foreclosure Disaster
The Next Shoe to Drop in Banking: An Options Strategy
Bernanke's Self-Promotional Reappointment Campaign A Stunning Success
Court Orders Federal Reserve to Disclose $2 Trillion Loan Program Details
Berlin Urges Calm Over Opel Dispute
Reuters The German government sought to calm a growing trans-Atlantic dispute over the fate of carmaker Opel on Monday as unions threatened “spectacular measures” to force a decision by U.S. parent General Motors.
Roubini Says Risk of Double-Dip Global Recession Rising on Exit Strategies
Millions face shrinking Social Security checks
Private Prisons: A Reliable American Growth Industry
‘Peak Oil’ Is a Waste of Energy
New York Times editorial by the same analyst whom Democracy Now! used to debate Julian Darley for their one show on Peak Oil. It will be interesting to see which letters in response they publish.
'Prolonged diapering' revealed as 'enhanced interrogation' technique
UK: Strikes Looming as Disputes Worsen
Britain wary of sting in tail
Britain sleepwalking towards economic misery
Counterfeiting and North Korea

Environment
Native Americans join tar protest
Amazon tribes fear river dams plan
Disaster Looming for Kenya
A Farm on Every Floor (New York Times Op-Ed)

And...
Real Life Decepticons: Robots Learn to Cheat (from Rice Farmer)

The Amount of Water in a Cotton Shirt

From Jenna Orkin:

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Coming Soon: Banking Crisis of Historic Proportions
Rep. Bachus: "Social Security Could Face Default Within Two Years"
Commentary: Getting ready for the dollar’s fall
Prime Mortgages Are Also Going Sour
Hidden Backlog of Foreclosures
Big banks still hold FDIC captive
FDIC May Add Special Fees on Banks as Mounting Failures Drain Deposit Fund
Manhattan Commercial Real Estate Office Sales Plunge 91%
Pensions' Private-Equity Cash Reduced 59% as Profits Shrink
U.S. Initial Jobless Claims Unexpectedly Rise as Companies Seek Cost Cuts
U.S. postal service could run out of money next month (from Rice Farmer)
Last Week's Insiders Transactions: 10 Buys For $60 Million, 136 Sells For Over $1.15 Billion (from Sebastian Ronin)
Swiss to reveal UBS accounts to settle U.S. tax fight Full Article
UBS to disclose details of 4,450 accounts in US tax evasion case
Swiss Banks Turn to Emerging Markets, Shun Americans as UBS Erodes Secrecy
Guard Troops May Be Needed in Troubled Alabama County (Aug. 4)
Unlike AmEx, Capital One's Defaults Worsening
Bank Lending Standards Tighter, Fed Says
Banks' Problem Loans Keep Growing
Credit Card Defaults Down, But Not All Reasons Are Positive
Crunch victims use anti-stalking laws to challenge 'greedy' banks
One city, 15,000 homeless veterans
Putpockets Give Extra Cash
One way to beef up the tourism industry.
China Launches Defense Website in Transparency Bid
PetroChina in Huge Australia Deal
Japan Youth Fuel Pension Bomb by Shunning Politics Aimed at Old
US troops and drones to deploy to Colombia (from Rice Farmer)
Nigeria Threatens Largest Debtors
Buffett Gets Busy
Buffett says unchecked U.S. debt threatens economy: report
The Greenback Effect, by Warren Buffett
Buffett's Latest: Inflation Forecast
Buffett on the Dollar's Destiny
Buffett: Debt Mountain Could Turn America into a Banana Republic

Tom Ridge: I Was Pressured to Raise Terror Alert to Help Bush Win

From PostCarbon.org:

Got Sustainable Solutions? We Want to Publish Your Story.

As you may know, our Senior Fellow, Richard Heinberg, is widely recognized as one of the world’s foremost educators on the perils of a global oil economy. Right now, Richard is starting his next book about how individuals and communities can build resilience in the face of uncertainty and rapid change caused by economic collapse, peak oil, climate change, and other crises.

In short, this book is about you. So, you see, Richard wants to hear your stories; the stories of what individuals, families and communities are doing to transition to a post-carbon world. Please contact us with your stories. Tell us about your inspirational efforts, or maybe about those of someone you know. Are there any businesses, communities, or families who inspire you? Not only is Richard looking to illuminate these efforts in his new book, but we’d love to feature them on our soon-to-launch, brand spanking new website.While we hate deadlines, publishers seem to derive great joy in imposing them. Meaning we have to your stories by September 18, 2009.e-mail us at: stories@postcarbon.org

Science/Environment
The End of Cheap Water?
...to make a 1 tonne passenger car takes more than 100,000 gallons of water. Just to make a cotton shirt takes over 1,000 gallons of water.
Leaders In Alternative Energy: Germany Turns On World's Biggest Solar Power Project
WHO casts doubt on Tamiflu use
UK Anti-Terror Technology: 007 or 1984? (from Rice Farmer)
Driverless vehicles 'could be on Britain's roads within 10 years'
Rotten algae plagues French coast
Environment Agency launches investigation as algae problem spreads

And...
Russian Gov't Looks To Buy Golden Bed

FDIC Bankrupt

From Jenna Orkin:

What if you threw a 'Going-Out-Of-Business' party and the problem wasn't that nobody came; it was that everyone came only they didn't realize where they were? Would that be the sound of one hand clapping?

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CoLLapse to Show at Toronto International Film Festival
Collapse Of The "Ownership Society"
As of Friday August 14, 2009, FDIC is Bankrupt
House prices suffer biggest fall this year
Run on the Dollar: What It Could Mean for the Yen
World stock markets slide into red
Global Sell-offs Visit US
Taking Wall Street Advice in Rally Means Owing $6000
CalPERS Admits California "Pension Costs Unsustainable" - So What To Do About It?
U.S. Treasuries Yields - Where To From Here?
Raising the Debt Ceiling - Again
Brace for a Wave of Foreclosures, the Dam is About to Break
Be Prepared for Extraordinary Circumstances
Is a Huge Selloff Coming?
Germany braces for second wave of credit crunch
Six Million British Adults on Benefits
Youth unemployment doubles in Sweden (from Rice Farmer)
Misguided Worries About Inflation
Why This Economic Recovery Is On Such Shaky Ground
Optimism about a recovery starting to fizzle
The U.S. debt bubble: Lessons from Japan
Regulators Were Told of Stanford Fraud, Investors Say
“I feel the U.S. government is responsible for my loss,” Mr. Nelson said, words that earned a standing ovation from the audience of more than 250 Stanford investors in a crowded auditorium.
Worst Performance Ever For Back-To-School Sales
130 million credit card numbers stolen in identity theft scheme
Oil and Copper Double
National Guard drill at high school to prepare for possible H1N1 riot
The above article, submitted by Rice Farmer, anticipates desperate anxiety on the part of the public to get the vaccine. The article below betrays a different take on the issue from a more informed population.
Most nurses unwilling to have swine flu vaccine

Russia/Asia
U.S. Army Will Train Georgians
America's New Air Force
Virtual reality for real.
Prisons to Free Inmates to Do Public Works
At Least 20 Dead in North Caucusus
Britain in Afghanistan 'for another five years'
Who is funding the Afghan Taliban? You don’t want to know (from Rice Farmer)
Potential for water conflict between India and Pakistan (from Rice Farmer)

Africa (from Rice Farmer)
Africa: U.S. Military Holds War Games on Nigeria, Somalia
Clinton Threatens War in Horn of Africa
Polio surge in Nigeria after vaccine virus mutates

Energy/Environment
Anniversary: Drake's Pa. oil well idea changed world in 1859
Environmental Movies Have a Green Problem: Money
New Eating Disorder: Obsession with Healthy Food
90% US Money Laced with Cocaine
Ironic, no?

Whereas

From Jenna Orkin:

Whereas...
150 Banks May Be Pushed to Point of No Return
"Fair Value" Accounting is Horror Flick Monster
The biggest reason that stocks have rallied since March, Wesbury said, is that the House Financial Services Committee forced FASB to loosen its mark-to-market rules. Other reasons for the rally are the easiest monetary policy in the Federal Reserve Board’s 96-year history and the end of panic selling, he said.
Insiders Continue to Sell, Sell, Sell
The Federal Reserve Is Immoral
Did Lehman Save America from a Dollar Collapse?
Stock Market and Monetary Disorder
US repossessions reach record levels
More Asset Bubbles and a Dollar Primed for Collapse

Chinese officials have a funny way of counting. When products are shipped from the factory, for example, they are counted as 'sales' even though no one may actually buy them...

'Green Shoots' Are a Mirage: Economy Will Deteriorate Further
Keep in mind," says The Richebächer Letter's Rob Parenteau, "China needs at least 9% growth to soak up the 24 million new Chinese workers who come of age each year - something even the Chinese Premier doesn't like to mention."
China Exports Down 22%
Shipping Industry Fights for Survival
Recovery Only a Statistician Could Love
Why Is the Fed Buying Treasuries? (from Rice Farmer)
"The fact that the U.S. government needs to resort to such tactics is the clearest indication yet of how close the U.S.'s Ponzi-scheme economy is to total collapse."
Germany's Steinbrück Warns of Return of 'Casino Capitalism'
Local Currencies During Recession

...Whereas all of the above indicates the opposite, we're supposed to believe the economy has turned a corner.

UK
Former head of Britain's biggest credit union declared bankrupt
Bug Resistant to Antibiotics Enters UK
Hospital bugs kill 30,000 people

Russia/Asia
Kremlin Burning Bridges With Every Neighbor
Ex-ISI chief says purpose of new Afghan intell. agency RAMA to "destablize Pakistan"
Costly U.S. campaign expected in Afghanistan (from Rice Farmer)
US losing in Afghanistan, top general admits (from Rice Farmer)
Army Drills to Protect Pipelines
Kalashnikov Maker Stops Production

Environment
Earth's Cycles, Once in Concert, Falling Out of Sync (from Rice Farmer)
Germany's First Offshore Wind Park Goes Online
Can New Growth Save the Amazon Rainforest?
Phew; we can keep destroying it.
Drug Promises Fix for Radiation Poisoning
And we can build more nuclear power plants with a clear conscience too!
Food giants say U.S. running out of sugar
Let them eat Splenda.
Customer Spots Poison Stems in Salad (Germany)

China to Beat Us at Our Own Game; Who'll Get the Last Laugh?

From Jenna Orkin:

US/Global
US Consumer Credit Shows Steepest Contraction in Over 5 Decades
Consumer Bankruptcies in U.S. May Reach 1.4 Million on Job Losses, Credit
Underwater Mortgage Holders Approach 25% as Home Prices Fall, Zillow Says
Deflation Hits Porn Industry, Canadian Grocery Stores, Newspapers, Firefighters, Lawyers, High Tech
A hollow joke during the Depression went: "Once there was a family that was very poor. The father was poor; the mother was poor; the cook was poor; the butler was poor..."
Fed's Proposed Framework for Addressing "Systemic Risk" Misses the Moving Target Government Bailouts and the Stock Market - The Seen and the Unseen
The Market Bubble Is About to Pop
Dismal Unemployment Situation in Chart Form
Banks come up with new tricks (from Rice Farmer)
Who's most likely to secede? (from Rice Farmer)
IATA warns of ‘de-globalisation’; latest traffic casts doubt on the bottoming of air travel declines (from Rice Farmer)
Pathogenic flu 'increases risk of Parkinson's disease'
How Secure Is Our Food Supply?

China
China's Growth an Accounting 'Miracle'
Chinese property sales are up over 60% so far this year, their National Bureau of Statistics proclaimed yesterday. That puts the housing bubble here to shame. We've heard a bunch of nosebleed data points outta there in the last few weeks...check these out:

New loan issuance has tripled in the first half of 2009, to $1.1 trillion. That's more than half of the entire Chinese GDP over the same period. 95% of those loans went to state-owned enterprises or provincial entities. The Shanghai Composite is up 79% year to date, the best major market performance in the world. Stocks on the Shanghai Comp. trade for 35.4 times earnings, double that of the MSCI emerging market's index. M2 money supply rose over 28.5% in the first half. The seven largest bond sales in the world this year were domestic transactions in China.Damn near everything is up dramatically in China in 2009...except exports. Strangely, we don't hear a lot of concern that the backbone of their economy has contracted 23% since this time last year.

Europe/Russia
German Bundesbank Puts Gold Reserves in US (in German)
Polish Government Approves Sale of State Assets to Cover Swollen Deficit
Relative Calm May Be at an End
Villains, Oligarchs and One Beekeeper

Asia
Pakistan's nuclear bases targeted by al-Qaeda
Kuwait becomes net gas importer (from Rice Farmer)
"Direct Overt U.S. Aid and Military Reimbursements to Pakistan, FY2002-FY2010

Environment
Dust clouds sap UAE's solar panels’ power (from Rice Farmer)
A Farming Revolution is Needed
...in British MSM
Almost 100 places in Brittany have toxic seaweed
Global warming causing birds to shrink

Yin/Yang, Economy/Swine Flu

From Jenna Orkin

US/Global Collapse
The FDIC Is in Trouble
...the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation currently covers each dollar on deposit with a trivial 2/10ths of a penny.
Inside Man on the Great Bank Heist (from Rice Farmer)
Hundreds Hurt in 11-Hour California Prison Riot
California Told To Prepare Massive Prisoner Release (from Rice Farmer)
Despite Promises, Downturn Will Hit Coffers of Social Safety Net (Germany)
Worry that Britain risks a Japan-style lost decade
10,000 children suspended for bullying or racial abuse

Military/Intelligence
A Request to Snoop on Public Every 60 Seconds (UK)
C.I.A. Missile Strike May Have Killed Pakistan’s Taliban Leader, Officials Say
U.S. sure Pakistan's Taliban leader is dead
Again. Apparently, reports of Baitullah Messud's death were greatly exaggerated the last two times he was killed.
General Sir David Richards: Afghanistan Will Take Forty Years
Obama adviser rejects 'global war on terror'
Ministers: We cannot eliminate all risk of torture
Ministers' admission links MI5 to 'torture victim'
Twitter Crash Linked to Attack on Georgian Blogger
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Fort Meade
Rio Tinto Accused of Spying by China
Obama Denies US Increasing Military Bases in Colombia
The new security arrangement would allow the Pentagon to lease access to seven Colombian military bases for U.S. support in fighting drug traffickers and guerrillas involved in the cocaine trade.
The agreement would also increase the number of American troops in Colombia above the current total of less than 300 but not more than 800, the maximum permitted under the existing pact.
Ore. Rep. floats mileage fee to replace gas tax
All cars would carry GPS to track miles under Blumenauer bill.

Swine Flu
How Safe Is the Swine Flu Vaccine?
Girl Dies After Swine Flu Misdiagnosis
Interview with Epidemiologist Tom Jefferson: 'A Whole Industry Is Waiting For A Pandemic'
Looks like they'll get it, or a reasonable enough facsimile that they'll reap the benefit anyway:
MPs plan flu vaccination in schools
Obama Team Mulls New Quarantine Regulations (from Rice Farmer)
Healthy People Lying to Get Tamiflu

Energy/Environment
Cloud Ships to Deflect Sun and Allow Us to Keep Polluting
Occupation of Wind Factory Ends
Lab-Burgers Better for the Planet?

And...
Disney version of "Global Corp"

Rock, Paper, Scissors, Germs, Economy

From Jenna Orkin:

Germs
Foreign reports about escape from NW China plague
Thailand Tightens Border Controls Against Pneumonic Plague ‎
VN closely supervises border to prevent plague ‎
Military Poised to Help FEMA Battle Swine Flu Outbreak(from Rice Farmer)
Judge: Swine Flu Reason to Suspend Constitutional Rights (from Rice Farmer)
Whisky: a cure for swine flu, and so much more
Mandatory anthrax vaccinations raise concerns (from Rice Farmer)

Economic Collapse
Why Another Stock Market Collapse Could Be Imminent
The Dollar's Continued Decline: Unintended Consequences
Federal Tax Revenues Suffer Biggest Drop Since Great Depression
Office Volume Down 50% to 91%
Joblessness up in 90 percent of metro areas (from Rice Farmer)
Wages and Salaries Fell 4.7%, Most On Record
Infrastructure Spending Seen Set to Fall in 2009 Despite Stimulus (from Rice Farmer)
Global GDP Rebound Is Underway, But Who's The Buyer?
UK: Negative Interest Rates?
Britain's value falls 2pc

Russia/Central Asia
Georgia Says Russia Making New Border
Georgian Peace Key to Pipelines
South Stream Gets Assent From Turkey
One-Third of Russian Clothing Retailers Going Bust, European Exporters Say
Russia: Clinic Left in the Cold By New Timber Rules
Putin’s Popularity Not Oil Dependent

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Absolute Zero
Big Bang Collider to Restart with Less Energy
Charles Saint-Ange Thilorier, the first to freeze carbon dioxide into dry ice, ran an experiment that resulted in an assistant losing both legs. In 1886, James Dewar’s laboratory went up. Dewar himself . . . was nearly killed.” Frostbite’s for kittens...
At Harvard, in 1999, a beam of light fired into a Bose-Einstein condensate slowed from 670,616, 629 miles per hour to 38 miles per hour. In a later experiment, it stopped dead. Cool.

And...
New hive that's causing a buzz
"Buzzy" Krongard and Blackwater
Banks May Be Added as Defendants in Madoff Suit: N.Y. Post Link
Fewer Germans in the Future?
Barack Obama faces 30 death threats a day, stretching US Secret Service
Thousands Exposed to 9/11 Fallout Now Have Asthma
Secret Report: Ground Zero Construction Lags; Slated for 2018
Royal Mint doubles production of gold coins

Out of the Mouth of the IEA

From Jenna Orkin

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IEA Warning: Oil Supplies Are Running Out Fast
U.S. commercial mortgage delinquencies jump 585% (from Rice Farmer)
1 Month, 24 Bank Failures: Random Event or Wilting Economy?
China: U.S. must manage dollar supply
Weekly Unemployment Claims Portend Disaster
Free Money Runs Out, Congress Authorizes More
Air Safety Plunges in First Half of 2009
Such a graphic verb, given the subject.
Wall Street Profits from Trades with Feds
75% Favor Auditing The Fed; Fed Job Approval Rating Lower Than IRS
Arizona May Sell State Capitol Building To Balance Budget
Toxic asset insurance slows recovery
Agencies to Set Up Mass Swine Flu Vaccinations (from Rice Farmer)
Far Right Warning: Neo-Nazi Threat Growing Despite NPD Cash Woes
Southern Migration Spikes Power Usage
Electrical Demand Plunges in Ontario, Canada; US Demand Expected to Drop 2%

Intelligence/Defense
Hackers attack MI5 website
Secrets of CIA "Ghost Flights" To Be Revealed (from Rice Farmer)
Microwave Weapon Will Rain Pain from the Sky (from Rice Farmer)

Africa
Foreign Investors Snap Up African Farmland

Russia/Asia
Russia: State Weapons Firm Executive Shot
Tajikistan Moves to Ban Russian Language
Kyrgyz Candidate Condemns Vote as Fraudulent
Pakistan Consumed by Violence as Taliban Power Grows.
Bankruptcy Laws To Be Overhauled
A Failure of State and Military in Afghanistan

Relationships in the Time of Collapse
Brothel Usage Down 30%
China's concubine culture is back
Big spenders tend to marry big savers, researchers find
Are these the marriages that last or the ones that get divorced? And whom should the US marry next, given the dicey state of our marriage to China?

New film by the makers of CoLLapse

From Secrecy News:

In 2005, the National Security Agency released a partially declassified (pdf) 1952 history of communications intelligence prior to Pearl Harbor with several passages censored. But this month, the NSA released the complete text (pdf) of the document after the Interagency Security Classification Appeals Panel (ISCAP) determined that there was no justification for continued classification of the withheld portions...The new disclosure illustrates once again the efficacy of the ISCAP in overcoming the reflexive secrecy of executive branch agencies, including those that are represented on the ISCAP itself. More often than not, the ISCAP has released information that one of its own member agencies said must remain classified.