From Jenna Orkin Currency Collapse May Stimulate Economic Expansion, BIS Says The euro mutiny begins
Spain: the new crisis in Euroland
Spanish debt wilts
Spain to Use $30 Billion "Fund for Orderly Bank Restructuring"; Spain's Borrowing Costs Rise; Is an EU or IMF Bailout of Spain in the Works? Fed Ponders What To Do If Recovery Fails; Risks to Growth All on Downside
Osborne gives Bank huge new powers on economy
Marc Faber: The Financial Crisis Has Seen Governments Expand "Like A Cancer"
Morgan Stanley Explains European Banks Were Perversely Incentivized To Load Up On The Shoddiest Sovereign Debt Share Gold Mania Turns Deadly, As 111 Children Die Of Lead Poisoning In Nigeria
Mike Ruppert Confronts Obama on BP Disaster
Speech 'too difficult' for audience? "President Obama's speech on the gulf oil disaster Tuesday night was written at a 10th-grade level, which, according to analysts, may have gone over the heads of many in his audience."
Bush once said he talked to the public as though they were not tenth graders but ten year olds. No doubt it came naturally to him. Obama, by comparison, is an egg-head. As for Ruppert...
Pickens on Oil DUK Jobless total getting close to 2.5 million
Threat of cuts could cause crisis in foster care
Q&A: Is this end of cheap China labor?
Jobless Claims in U.S. Unexpectedly Increased 12,000 Last Week to 472,000
15 Big Companies In Danger Of Sliding To Bankruptcy (That Aren't BP!) 15 States Facing A Terrible Demographic Crisis The 15 Most Hated Companies In America (That Aren't BP)
Obama: BP Agrees to $20 Billion for Victims
Obama said the independent fund will be directed by lawyer Kenneth Feinberg, who oversaw payments to families of victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Sierra Club and Gang Green: Oil Spill Cleanup “Just Fine” Sierra Club: Pro-Corporate, Anti-Grass Roots
Terror/Intelligence/Art
Britain accused of backing Iranian terror group Iran summons British ambassador over terror plot
Wikileaks Preparing to Release Afghan Airstrike Video
Wikileaks Case Echoes Pentagon Papers - from Elizabeth Miller
by Colleen Rowley and Robert Parry
Iceland rewrites law to create haven for investigative reporting A safe haven for Julian Assange, courtesy Birgitta Jonsdottir. - JO
Police seize 100,000 anti-Vladimir Putin books
Possible Western Pennsylvania Link to Israeli Nukes
Home school parents 'must register children'

Downtown Toronto trees, bus shelters removed for G20 security

Exposed: Voyeurism, surveillance and the camera "Tate Modern's current exhibition offers a fascinating glimpse into the world of voyeurism and surveillance."
Why Saving Sperm Whales Is More Important Than Ever
Region faces drought order as water supply falls Hosepipe ban warning as parts of Britain at risk of summer drought Waste review will lead to more slop buckets
Victory for food lobby as MEPs reject new labelling rules
Jamey Hecht on the Oil Gusher

From Jenna OrkinBP's next solution might make things even worse BP's "Bottom Kill" Solution Might Just Cause More Oil To Spill Why BP Oil Disaster Is Likely To Get Worse - from Elizabeth Miller Scroll to Dougr, June 13, 3:17 More detailed analysis than you'll find in the media. - JOHere's The Real Reason BP's Oil Leak Estimate Keeps Increasing Halliburton Bought Oil Risk Control Company in April BP Hiring Big Banks to Avert Takeover E.U. Chief Warns: Massive Government Debt Will Kill Democracy And Create New Dictatorships Europe's banks the next to fail en masse Mike Ruppert on Max Keiser Netanyahu Warns: Dark Days Ahead Oil DisasterObama appoints 'oil tsar' Someone to fire when the disaster gets worse. Pelican nests trampled, official says Oil Spill May End Up Helping GDP Slightly - from Elizabeth Miller Matt Simmons Revises Leak Estimate To 120,000 Barrels Per Day, Believes Oil Covers 40% Of Gulf Beneath The Surface BP's Gulf Well Gushing as Much as 60,000 Barrels of Oil a Day, U.S. Says
Shale Gas 'Revolution' Could Turn Out to Be Mammoth Spin Job ... Toxic Pension and Municipal Bonds; State and Local Borrowing Hits All-Time High Is The US Verging On A Bailout Of Spain? Soros warns of recession "Europe faces "almost inevitable" recession next year and years of stagnation says billionaire investor George Soros." Bank of England to cap mortgages Russia Preparing to Buy Canadian, Australian Dollars to Diversify Reserves Which is the most indebted country in Europe? "When it comes to household debt, the answer may come as a surprise." Food prices to rise by up to 40% over next decade, UN report warns - from Rice Farmer How the West Is Losing Turkey Pension income hits low UPDATE 2-France lifts retirement age to balance pension books What happens if your state government shuts down? - from Rice Farmer To Illinois Residents: Move. Now. - from Rice FarmerSales of beer and TVs push down inflation as fuel hits record high The end of China's cheap labor? "Is China's seemingly inexhaustable supply of cheap labor finally running dry? If so, will this set the stage for an even bigger bubble?" Ad for Job in "Internment" for the US Army Scores of Whale Products in the Pipeline ...including biodiesel. In the march back to the Stone Age, first stop: nineteenth century. - JO Libya sets up London hedge fund to train financial experts "The Libyan government is backing a new London hedge fund with hundreds of millions of dollars, as the Arab state seeks to diversify its economy away from oil and train a generation of investment professionals in the ways of the financial markets." Wikileaks Founder Has Massacre Video from Elizabeth Miller Wikileaks May Be Under Attack - from Elizabeth Miller China Space Command - from Rice Farmer Authors welcome halting of paedophile database "Philip Pullman has accused the last Labour government of using the murders of two Soham schoolgirls in 2002 as a "scare story" to persuade the public that it was necessary to create a database of adults who work with minors."Experts Use Top Spy Gear to Spies on Spies ‘Human Terrain’ Chief Ousted Swine Flu Lacks Killer Molecule English Hillsides May Become Inaccessible to Walkers Disease outbreaks and a dearth of young people mean English hillsides are going downhill. - JO3 powerful earthquakes rock Indonesia, tsunami watch issued 500 rare African penguins killed by big freeze in South Africa They died within 24 hours. The 'God particle' may exist in five forms Factories to Close so People Can Watch World Cup in Bangladesh - from Rice Farmer A doctor I know said that when he was studying, he witnessed surgeons remove their gloves, allowing an assistant to take over, so they could watch a cricket match.

Who's Up, Who's Down From Jenna OrkinThe great transvestite wit, Quentin Crisp, once said, "If you describe things as better than they are, you will be called an optimist; worse than they are and you will be called a realist; but if you describe things exactly as they are, you will be called a cynic."They called us cynics and doomer-gloomers but ha! Look who is getting the last laugh. Those of you who find this sentiment off-putting, be aware that the velvet glove in which the knife is held is itself lined with razor blades. For no one gets the last laugh; like rock-climbers bound together, we fall together.This is one of the most important lessons outside of a really useful one such as what crop to grow in your backyard: It is as wrong-headed to revere as to despise; in fact, it's just the opposite side of the same coin and leads to the same dead end. The hero, if you have one, will disappoint, and far sooner than the meek will inherit. My students who hail from the most recondite reaches of the world may believe that so-and-so is a witch or that the bribery and corruption they came here to escape was the result of "Jewish influence," thus exonerating their own countrymen who were engaging in said bribery and corruption, but they are more open than Americans to the knowledge that we are not the world's saviors. We are fat, spoiled and laughably clueless about the rest of the world.Then why did you come here? I ask them.No answer. Or one that quickly leads them to understand they came here in order to become as fat and spoiled as we are.This is my purpose in teaching: To upend their assumptions; the more cherished, the more in need of upheaval or at least of questioning. When the dust settles, some of it may be in the same place as before, but surely not all.I have a student from somewhere in the Middle East/Central Asia who a year ago said that when he saw homosexuals, he wanted to kill them. One of the reasons he is here is that his family was afraid that if he stayed in his country, he would kill someone or be killed himself. It was almost a rite of passage where he was from.When the question arose of what attribute of themselves the students were most proud of, this young man said he was most proud of his loyalty to his beliefs.Several weeks ago, we were discussing a court case concerning the custody of a child. The mother was a lesbian; the father, a convicted murderer.The young man from the Middle East/Central Asia said, "Give the child to the lesbians." We all looked at him.He shrugged. "I changed my mind."Il Hamdul' illah. ("Thanks be to God.") There is hope. CommitteeA cul-de-sac sown [? in?] which ideas are lured and then quietly strangled. John A. Lincon A group of people who keep minutes and waste hours. Milton Berle Common SenseThe collection of prejudices acquired by the age eighteen. Albert Einstein CommunismSocialism with electricity. Vladimir Lenin ComplianceThe path of least persistence. Gordon Baker CompromiseThe art of dividing a cake in such a way that everyone believes he has the biggest piece. Ludwig Erhard EloquenceThe ability to describe Kim Basinger without using one's hands. Michael Harkness FanaticismRe-doubling your effort when you've forgotten your aim. George Santayana Economy ‘may never recover from banks crisis’ BP Hires Mercs to Block Oily Beaches (Updated) What's Really Going On In Kazahstan The issue is whether Russia can be drawn into interfering in other states' affairs. If the conflict extends into Uzbekistan, China, too, may become involved via their participation in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
US General Petraeus collapses at Senate ...
CHART OF THE DAY: Even The Fed Admits Ben Bernanke Is Dreaming If He Wants To End The Stimulus Wall Street Set To Get Huge Win, As Blanche Lincoln Caving Towards A Derivatives Compromise AXA: eurozone still at risk AXA analysts dismiss Europe's €750bn (£623bn) rescue package. Angela Merkel's government threatened with collapse 9 Reasons Spain Is A Dead Economy Walking Banking Crisis: Europe Banks the next to fail en masse - from Rice Farmer Glimpses of the End Game - from Rice FarmerPension income hits low - UK Japan PM warns of Greece-like debt crisis Japan has the largest public debt among industrialized nations at 218.6 percent of its gross domestic product in 2009, according to the International Monetary Fund.Fannie-Freddie Fix at $160 Billion With $1 Trillion Worst Case Update: Fannie, Freddie "Mother of all Bailouts" may cost Taxpayers $1 Trillion New York Fed's Enhanced Power May Come at Expense of Reduced Independence Transcript of Soros's "Act II" speech Calling a bear a bear 7 Secrets BP Doesn't Want You to Know "In the first quarter of 2010, they made $73 billion in revenue, $72.3 billion of that came from the exploration, production, refining and marketing of oil and natural gas..."BP Is Building Long-Term Floating Hotels, Because This Is Going To Take WAY Longer Than You Think BP Bankruptcy Would Offer No Protection From Costs (Update1 ... Efforts to Repel Spill Are Called Chaotic A ProPublica report last week chronicles BP's involvement in some of the biggest oil and gas disasters of the past five years due to their negligence... Exxon Distances Itself From BP's `Dramatic Departure' in Gulf Oil Disaster BP Makes Plan To Capture 50000 Bbl/Day Of Leak ... One Ton Tar Ball - from Lisa BP: Hydrogen Sulfide 120-240 Times Acceptable Level Sick Fishermen As Mess Is Sent to Landfills, Officials Worry About Safety Opinion: BP still in charge of oil spill, still shrouding it in secrecy
Nuking the Gulf
Caymans Move Cut Transocean's Tax by $2 Billion, Magazine Says ... 7 Signs the Fossil Fuel Party Is Over (Discovery Channel) - from Rice Farmer Half of Japan's nuclear reactors in trouble - from Rice Farmer New Study: Biomass Worse Than Coal - from Rice FarmerNew Mexico Candidate Wants Landmines Along US/Mexican Border Four Months In, Special Forces Team ‘Can’t Find the Taliban’ FAA Experiments With Integrating Drones Into Civil Airspace Gaza blockade may be eased after inquiry deal Kyrgyzstan: Russia to intervene Report: U.S. taxpayers helping to pay for Somali child soldiers GPs to waive privacy of ill gun owners Doctors agree to breach duty of medical confidentiality if patients who own guns become seriously mentally ill. Whites only legal notice has Massachusetts residents furious Cuts will leave Britain's military stronger, says Fox F.B.I. Opens Kennedy File John Embry: 17 reasons to own gold Waiting for inflation? It’s already here National Guard Available But Only Fraction Used in Oil Spill Cleanup (June 2) NOAA, FDA Continue Ramping Up Efforts to Ensure Safety of Gulf of Mexico Seafood Think gas is too pricey? Think again. From Rice Farmer: Someone just directed my attention to a policy paper recently published on the website of the Democratic Party of Japan. The statement deals with the party's plans for agriculture, fishing, and food production. Quite surprisingly, it contains an acknowledgement of peak oil, and suggests that they understand what it means because it's defined in this way: "[oil] production peaks because it can no longer be used economically, even if reserves are plentiful." Haven't seen anything on this in English. I doubt that policy papers are translated. The Japanese file is posted on the DPJ website here. Lloyds on peak oil, climate change, resource depletion… a historic ... China picking up lots of oil in Iraq Obama Says BP Oil Disaster Echoes 9/11Visualising the Gulf Oil Disaster