http://www.propublica.org/ion/blog/item ... ical#15179
Gulf spill workers complaining of flulike symptoms
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_oil_spill_workers_health
Fisherman's wife breaks the silence
http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/06/03/gu ... tml?hpt=C1
BP cuts pipe, plans to lower cap over Gulf spill
http://www.veteranstoday.com/2010/06/03 ... ulf-spill/
BP clashes with scientists over deep sea oil pollution
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2 ... -pollution
An unprecedented combo of oil & outlooks
http://www.weather.com/blog/weather/8_2 ... m=blog_rss
Hurricane Season Begins – 2010
http://modernsurvivalblog.com/weather-p ... valBlog%29
Morning Bell: Obama and the Oil Spill
http://blog.heritage.org/2010/06/03/mor ... oil-spill/
Concerns over another BP oil rig in the Gulf - BP Atlantis a bigger disaster in the making
http://amfix.blogs.cnn.com/2010/06/02/c ... -the-gulf/
(U//LES) El Paso Intelligece Center: Blue Methamphetamine Report
http://info.publicintelligence.net/EPICBlueMeth.pdf
Dissent at the CIA: Officers protest ‘harmful’ drone strikes
http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0603/dissen ... e-strikes/
The Back Art Of ‘Master Illusions’
http://blacklistednews.com/?news_id=9046
Israel rejects international investigation of raid
http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0603/israel ... tion-raid/
Report: All aid flotilla victims shot dead
http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0603/report ... shot-dead/
Press TV journalist on-board Gaza Flotilla describes ordeal
http://www.federaljack.com/?p=15821
UN chief urges Israel to lift Gaza blockade
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/ar ... 4vqxm3Jz_Q
Biden: Israel right to stop Gaza flotilla from breaking blockade
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-d ... e-1.293833
Israeli Murders, NATO and Afghanistan
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php? ... leId=19513
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/ju ... -recessionWorldwide annual military budget rose 5.9% in real terms according to Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
Last year, $1.5 trillion (£1tn)was spent on weapons, an annual increase in real terms of 5.9%, according to the latest report by Sipri, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
The US accounted for more than half of the total increase, though arms spending increased fastest in Asian countries, with China raising its military expenditure most, followed by India. Global spending has risen by nearly 50% over the past decade, said Sipri.
....can't expect it all to sit in a deserted warehouse in the middle of nowhere either....
Obama's 'Chicago Way' Plunders the Private Sector
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=37315
Still seeking an explanation for Obama's SSN 042-68-4425
http://www.sonorannews.com/archives/201 ... maSSN.html
Bill Clinton May Never Release Kagan Files
http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2010/ ... agan-files
Gun Control: The Ultimate Human Rights Violation
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=37303
City Assures Illegal Aliens' Safety
http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2010/ ... ens-safety
German President Horst Köhler announced his surprise resignation on Monday after appearing to suggest the country's unpopular Afghanistan mission was partly motivated by commercial interests.
http://www.thelocal.de/national/20100531-27547.html
EU plans green taxes to cut debt
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/news ... -debt.html
Euro Decoupling, Inverse Style
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/euro-d ... to+zero%29
Forint Slide Accelerates As Hungarian Default Risk Now 14 Wider To 277bps
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/hungar ... der-277bps
Foreign banks find fortune in crisis
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0510/37976.html
Chinese "Miracle"? No - Just A Scam
http://market-ticker.denninger.net/arch ... -Scam.html
When Insiders Expose the Ugly Side of the Entertainment Industry
http://vigilantcitizen.com/?p=3925
Lieberman Bill Gives Feds ‘Emergency’ Powers to Secure Civilian Nets
http://www.blacklistednews.com/news-9049-0-22-22--.html
FTR #708 Going Deep with Daniel Hopsicker
http://spitfirelist.com/for-the-record/ ... cord%27%29
Secretive Bilderberg Club ready for protests
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/w ... 142478.ece
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-0 ... venue.htmlJune 3 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. states reduced spending for a second consecutive year as the worst U.S. recession since the 1930s cut tax revenue, a survey by two associations found.
Governors may struggle to raise spending in fiscal 2011, which begins July 1 for 46 states, as they close deficits without the aid of federal stimulus money that runs out this year, the report by the National Governors Association and National Association of State Budget Officers said.
States will have dealt with $296.6 billion of budget deficits from fiscal 2009 to 2012, covered in part by $135 billion of federal money received under stimulus legislation, according to the groups. Governors still face $127.4 billion of deficits for the rest of fiscal 2010, 2011 and 2012.
“The federal government has helped states avoid even more significant cuts to state services and/or proposed tax increases,” said the report, which the Washington-based associations publish twice a year based on a survey. “The loss of these funds combined with the anticipated slow recovery of state revenues is expected to result in the continuation of difficult state fiscal conditions.”
Warren Buffett, whose Berkshire Hathaway Inc. has been paring its municipal bond portfolio, yesterday predicted a “terrible problem” for the debt of state and local government in coming years. Berkshire has cut its municipal holdings to less than $3.9 billion as of March 31, from more than $4.7 billion at the end of 2008.
(Reuters) - Eleven of the 14 U.S. metropolitan areas with a jobless rate of at least 15 percent in April were in California, the Labor Department said on Wednesday, in another sign that economic recovery is coming slowly to the Golden State.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6 ... mesticNews
http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2010/ ... ed+Risk%29Schakett noted that the foreclosure process is currently taking 13 to 14 months ...
For many the timeframe is apparently much longer. On Monday David Streitfeld wrote in the NY Times: Owners Stop Paying Mortgages, and Stop Fretting
The average borrower in foreclosure has been delinquent for 438 days before actually being evicted, up from 251 days in January 2008, according to LPS Applied Analytics.
...
More than 650,000 households had not paid in 18 months, LPS calculated earlier this year. With 19 percent of those homes, the lender had not even begun to take action to repossess the property ...
These long foreclosure time lines can have a significant adverse impact on housing.
Housing Bust and Labor Immobility
http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2010/ ... ed+Risk%29
Labor Productivity And Costs
http://market-ticker.org/archives/2368- ... Blech.html
The recession has dampened demand for electricity, especially from industrial customers. Electricity demand fell for the past two years, the first time that has happened since 1949.
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot. ... nalysis%29
Extended Unemployment: Initial, Continued and Extended Unemployment Claims June 03 2010
http://paper-money.blogspot.com/2010/06 ... inued.html
3Recessions Update
http://maxedoutmama.blogspot.com/2010/0 ... pdate.html
What Will Drive Manufacturing?
http://dailycapitalist.com/2010/06/02/w ... italist%29
Median Unemployment by State
http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2010/06/me ... Picture%29
http://federalreserve.gov/newsevents/sp ... 00603a.htmOver the past two years, a concerted effort by the Federal Reserve and other policymakers has helped to stabilize our financial system and our economy. Following a sharp contraction in late 2008 and early 2009, we are now in the fourth quarter of economic expansion, with jobs once more being created rather than destroyed. Nonetheless, important concerns remain. One particularly difficult issue is the continued high rate of unemployment. High unemployment imposes heavy costs on workers and their families, as well as on our society as a whole. I raise this issue here because healthy small businesses, including start-ups as well as going concerns, are crucial to creating jobs and improving employment security.
Unfortunately, lending to small businesses has been declining. Indeed, outstanding loans to small businesses dropped from almost $700 billion in the second quarter of 2008 to approximately $660 billion in the first quarter of 2010.1 An important but difficult-to-answer question is how much of this reduction has been driven by weaker demand for loans from small businesses and how much by restricted credit availability.
Upcoming Treasury Auctions
http://treasurydirect.gov/RI/OFAnnce
U.S. debt soars to 90% of GDP
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=160649
New York state delayed paying $2.5 billion of bills as a short-term way of staying solvent but its cash crunch could get even worse in August and September, Budget Director Robert Megna said on Tuesday.
http://www.cnbc.com//id/37463314
Half a Dozen States Delay Tax Refunds
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/02/us/02 ... ss&emc=rss
50 Statistics About The U.S. Economy That Are Almost Too Crazy To Believe
http://endoftheamericandream.com/archiv ... to-believe
Petroleum Inventory Report 06-03-10
http://energy-invest.blogspot.com/2010/ ... 03-10.html
The Fallacy of Gold Backed Money
http://www.scribd.com/doc/24700466/The- ... cked-Money
The Global Wheat Situation
http://nogger-noggersblog.blogspot.com/ ... ation.html
Survival Sanitation - Part One - Taking Out the Trash
http://stealthsurvival.blogspot.com/201 ... g-out.html
Mobile phones responsible for disappearance of honey bee
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/wildli ... y-bee.html
Alaska volcano shows signs of unrest
http://newsminer.com/view/full_story/77 ... ft_bullets
Mexico opens California office to provide ID for illegals
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/polit ... z0poC1ah67
Pakistan strike an option if next attack on U.S. succeeds, paper told
http://www.theprovince.com/news/Pakista ... z0poC7YDdK
U.S. to Join South Korean Military Exercise Off North Korea Coast
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Media/us ... d=10807101
Korean war "may break out at any moment": North Korea
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/ ... 01/1/.html
North Korea warns that war could erupt soon
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/LDE6521K8.htm
MAP OF THE DAY: How North Korean Artillery Could Level Seoul In Two Hours
http://www.businessinsider.com/map-of-t ... z0poFrUdxJ
WikiLeaks Was Launched With Documents Intercepted From Tor
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/0 ... z0poCZDQEU
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... 1DG7KH.DTLState poised to OK supertoxic pesticide
Farmers planting strawberries and other crops in California will soon have to contend with cancer-causing poison instead of bugs, worms and fungus if regulators get their wish.
The California Department of Pesticide Regulation has proposed registering methyl iodide as a pesticide in California to the dismay of scientists and environmental groups, who say it is so toxic that even chemists are reluctant to handle it.
The chemical will become legal for growers to use after a 60-day comment period ending June 29 unless there is some kind of public outcry.
"This is one of the most egregious pesticides out there," said Sarah Aird, the state field organizer for Californians for Pesticide Reform, a coalition of watchdog groups opposed to the use of potentially harmful chemicals. "It is really, really toxic. It is actually used in the laboratory to induce cancer cells."
Methyl iodide was approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2007 for use as a fumigant over the protests of more than two dozen California legislators and 54 scientists, including five Nobel laureates, who signed a letter opposing registration of the chemical.
Methyl iodide is now licensed for use in 47 states, but it is expensive and used only sparingly in Florida and the Carolinas, mostly on strawberries and occasionally on tomatoes and peppers. Eleven states have used it at least once, according to researchers. No problems have been documented, but very few studies have been conducted, Aird and others said.
California is considered a key battleground in the fight against methyl iodide because agriculture is a major part of the economy. The substance, produced by Arysta LifeScience Corp., is used primarily to prepare strawberry fields for planting because that fruit is particularly susceptible to soil-borne pests.
The stuff is normally mixed into the dirt and covered with tarps. It kills weed seeds, insects, microscopic worms, bacteria and fungal diseases that infect plant roots.
"Fumigants, including methyl iodide, sterilize soil prior to planting," said Lea Brooks, spokeswoman for the Department of Pesticide Regulation. "It is injected into soil. It is not applied onto plants or fruit."
Obama's USDA to deceive Americans over GM crops
http://www.naturalnews.com/028911_USDA_GM_crops.html
Phoenix-area hospitals fight highly toxic 'supergerm'
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/ ... rgerm.html
Lancer Systems Introduces L15 “Configurable” AR (AR-15) Lower Receiver with Modular Magwell
http://www.defensereview.com/lancer-sys ... r-magwell/
M4 Grip Pod Popular in the Field
http://kitup.military.com/2010/06/m4-gr ... field.html
Taurus Introduces the New Judge Public Defender Ultra-Lite
http://www.downrange.tv/blog/?p=3656
UPDATE:
The Equity Markets Are Ignoring Screams of FUD (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt) in the European Money and Credit Markets: Enter Lehman Fiasco v2.0!!!
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/equity ... and-credit
Hoenig Says Fed Should Raise Rate To 1% By End Of Summer
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/hoenig ... end-summer
Failed Bond Auction Bug Goes Viral: Romania Rejects All Bids In 600 Million Lei Auction
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/failed ... ei-auction
UPDATE 2:
http://blog.skytruth.org/2010/06/gulf-o ... kyTruth%29Gulf of Mexico - Time To Get Serious About Routine Satellite Monitoring
The ongoing Deepwater Horizon oil spill has provided a rare scientific opportunity: for the first time, multiple satellite remote-sensing systems, from visible to infrared to radar, are providing daily images of a large area in the Gulf of Mexico. This systematic imaging is proving useful for measuring the size and location of oil slicks and sheen, and for estimating the rate of leakage from BP's failed Macondo well.
It's also demonstrating another important ability -- here at SkyTruth we think we've discovered a small but possibly chronic leak from an oil platform located a few miles off the Mississippi Delta, unrelated to but not far from BP's leaking well:
We first mentioned this back on May 15. According to GIS data from the Minerals Management Service showing the locations of all fixed oil and gas platforms in the Gulf, the platform that appears to be leaking is identified by Complex ID # 23051. You can look up more info at the MMS website. According to MMS this platform was installed in 1984, and it is manned 24/7 (most platforms in the Gulf are unmanned). The sequence of satellite images above shows what appears to be a small oily slick emanating from the platform location on multiple dates, captured by several different satellite imaging systems. We've observed the slick on Envisat MERIS and ASAR images taken on April 25 and 26, and May 12, 18 and 31; on RADARSAT images taken May 8 and 11; and on COSMO-SkyMed images taken May 11, 14 and 15. (Pet Peeve Alert: These are all foreign satellites, operated by Germany, Italy, Canada. Radar imagery is the go-to tool for detecting and monitoring oil slicks, yet the U.S. does not operate a single civilian radar satellite. Instead, we've been buying radar images of this disaster from other nations. This is nuts.)
On May 27 a scientist from the University of West Florida was flying over the Gulf to investigate the BP oil spill, and noticed an obvious discharge plume coming from a rig - here is one of the pictures she took during that flight:
US citizen killed on flotilla was reportedly shot four times in head
http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0603/citize ... imes-head/
Ron Paul : U.S. Shouldn't Support Israel's Gaza Blockade!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLp1GmEY ... r_embedded
A Plague Upon The World: The USA is a “Failed State”
http://www.infowars.com/a-plague-upon-t ... led-state/
North Korean envoy warns war could erupt soon
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100603/ts_ ... _north_war
The New Gulf of Tonkin: South Korean Torpedo Sunk ROK Warship
http://www.nowpublic.com/world/new-gulf ... ok-warship
Agenda 21 Alert: Science and Sewage
http://www.morphcity.com/home/63-science-and-sewage
Bill Gates Admits Vaccines are for Depopulation. On Stage!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRjEIZd2 ... r_embedded
Bilderberg 2010: Plutocracy with palm trees
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/blog/20 ... berg-spain
Liberal Groups Want FCC to Police Talk Radio, Cable News
http://www.newsmax.com/InsideCover/libe ... /id/360849
Census Hiring to Spike Job Figures in May
http://biggovernment.com/publius/2010/0 ... ernment%29
http://www.minyanville.com/businessmark ... 0/id/28593Capturing my fancy today is a story in the New York Times about the idea to drop a nuclear bomb into the Gulf and seal the leak by melting the ruptured pipe and rock on the seafloor, presumably plugging the leak. Now, I’m neither a scientist nor an expert in the impact of underwater nuclear explosions, but I'm a big fan of both the deeply strange and the absurd. Nuking the Gulf to plug the leak is both.
I haven’t got the foggiest idea if dropping a nuke on the leak would work but the potential solutions seem more and more like something thought up during a vodka bender. Which may explain why the precedent for the bombing idea is the rumored success the Russians had using the technique. Questions such as “Would this cause a radioactive tsunami, make any Gulf storm hitting the shoreline a regional Armageddon, kill every living creature in a 100-mile radius for 50 years, or blow the leak wide open and exacerbate the spill immeasurably?” are best left to the propeller-head guys with clipboards and white jackets. Leaving aside all that, and at the risk of seeming slightly caviler, I think we can agree that the atomic option or, dare to dream, a hydrogen bomb, would be just about the coolest thing any of us has ever seen. How cool? This cool, only in color.
Since BP couldn’t possibly be less popular, my advice to them is that they drop about 10 more of those submarine cameras and sell the Big Bang explosion on Pay-Per-View for $50. It would secure BP’s dividend and be bigger than World Wrestling Entertainment’s WrestleMania and a Floyd Mayweather fight combined.
http://money.cnn.com/2010/06/03/news/ec ... dget_gaps/State finances hitting bottom
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The good news is that states are expected to hit the bottom of their budget woes this coming fiscal year.
The bad news is that there are still painful spending cuts that must be made in fiscal 2011, which starts July 1 in most states, and beyond.
"From here on, for the next year or so, is going to be the bottom," said Raymond Scheppach, executive director of the National Governors Association, which released its biannual state fiscal report Thursday. "My hope is within two quarters, we begin to start to see some very, very small revenue growth."
Governors' recommended budgets called for a 3.6% increase in spending - the first after a record two years of declines, according to the report, which was conducted with the National Association of State Budget Officers.
That would bring general fund spending to $635.3 billion, still a far cry from the $687.3 billion expended in fiscal 2008, before the Great Recession hit.
Tax revenues are expected to climb to $495.8 billion in fiscal 2011, up from $477.4 billion the previous year but down from the $541.5 billion collected in fiscal 2008.
Rethinking the Inflation vs Deflation Debate
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/rethin ... to+zero%29
....of course the writer leaves out the falling velocity of money....and the fact that M3 is now collapsing....which Leo points out in the comments with reference to this nice piece of analysis -
http://www.arpllp.com/core_files/The%20 ... 200709.pdf
Employment Report Prediction: Bad Reporting!
http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2010/ ... ed+Risk%29
Public Union Parasites Move To Bar California Bankruptcies
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot. ... nalysis%29
Retailers' sales lackluster as consumers remain wary
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6522KA20100603
UPDATE 3:
ES Closes Green At 40% Below Average Volume
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/es-clo ... age-volume
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/feds-c ... 66-billionFed's Central Bank Swaps Increase By $5.4 Billion To $6.6 Billion
The Fed lent out $6.6 billion in liquidity swaps this week to foreign banks, of which the biggest beneficiary was the ECB, with a 1 week swap of $5.4 billion and an 84 day swap of $1.0 billion. The only other bank receiving Fed aid was the Bank of Japan, which got $210 million. What is funny is that the ECB is now an example of just how large the FX imbalance in Europe is: the ECB has had to lend out $6.4 billion in dollars even as banks have hoarded €320 billion in euro deposits with the ECB, a new all time record. In other words, nobody wants euros, and everybody is dying to get their hands on dollars.
Who Will Profit From The Oil Spill
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/guest- ... -oil-spill