Link: http://motherjones.com/blue-marble/2011/01/beware-food-bubble

Experts worry that the world is facing a looming food crisis, one that we are currently not well prepared to deal with. In his new book, World on the Edge: How to Prevent Environmental and Economic Collapse, Earth Policy Institute's Lester Brown looks at the state of the world's resources, warning that the outlook does not look good when it comes to feeding the world's population. Brown warns that the "food bubble" may be about to burst in both the book and a new piece in Foreign Policy this week, laying out why there is good reason to believe that the new year may be disasterous on this front:

Link: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/8258540/Fox-shoots-hunter-in-Belarus.html

A wounded fox shot its would be killer in Belarus by pulling the trigger on the hunter's gun as the pair scuffled after the man tried to finish the animal off with the butt of the rifle, media said on Thursday. The unnamed hunter, who had approached the fox after wounding it from a distance, was in hospital with a leg wound, while the fox made its escape, media said, citing prosecutors from the Grodno region. "The animal fiercely resisted and in the struggle accidentally pulled the trigger with its paw," one prosecutor was quoted as saying. Score one for the animal beings.

Link: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1346936/The-sun-rises-days-early-Greenland-sparking-fears-climate-change-accelerating.html

Experts say the sun should have risen over the Arctic nation's most westerly town, Ilulissat, yesterday, ending a month-and-a-half of winter darkness. But for the first time in history light began creeping over the horizon at around 1pm on Tuesday - 48 hours ahead of the usual date of 13 January.

Link: http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article27262.htm

It was the most startling of warnings. If the U.S. does not get its finances in order “we will have a European situation on our hands, and possibly worse”, claimed Paul Ryan, the new Republican chairman of the House of Representatives budget committee. As it stands today, the U.S. borrows about 40 cents of every dollar it spends. Curbing the budget deficit has been the stated mission of Mr. Ryan, a rising Republican star, for several years. But such calls for action have multiplied in Washington in recent months, igniting what some say is the fiercest debate over fiscal and budgetary policy in decades.

Link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jan/14/china-police-chief-dies-custody

After the sudden death of Xie Zhigang, rights group says forced confessions are rampant in China despite new rules. Within a day of his detention, Xie Zhigang was dead. His interrogators had called the emergency services because he "had no appetite". He died in hospital, where doctors recorded the cause as a sudden heart attack. His widow said his body told a more complicated story. "There were bruises all over his body, and deep scars on his wrist and ankles. Five of his ribs were broken," said Wang Li, who alleges that he died due to torture.

Link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jan/14/greek-mayor-bulldozes-toll-booth-barriers

Apostolos Gletsos hailed as national hero as Greeks opposed to austerity measures take law into their own hands. When drivers in Greece began refusing to pay road tolls it was seen as a bit of good-natured defiance, born of economy necessity. When Apostolos Gletsos, mayor of Stylida, took control of a municipal bulldozer and broke his way through the barriers of a toll booth, civil disobedience took on an altogether different hue. "What I did was within the realm of my duties to defend the legal rights of citizens. I don't regret it and would do it again," said the mayor, who was arrested and charged.

Link: http://www.geopoliticalmonitor.com/us-pressure-triggers-collapse-of-lebanese-gov-4268/

Lebanon’s misnamed “national unity” government fell Wednesday after the political bloc led by Hezbollah withdrew over the failure to reach an agreement on policy toward a United Nations probe into the 2005 assassination of former prime minister Rafiq al-Hariri. Underlying the government’s collapse are the growing social and political tensions in Lebanon, which have been stoked by outside intervention, most powerfully from Washington. The opening up of a new period of political turmoil in the country carries with it the threat of renewed internal sectarian strife and even war in the region.

Link: http://www.democracynow.org/2011/1/14/tucson_shooting_survivor_it_looks_like

We speak with Tucson shooting survivor Eric Fuller. A 63-year-old disabled veteran, Fuller had campaigned for Arizona Democrat Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in her reelection campaign and was at the supermarket in Tucson on Saturday to meet with her. He was shot in the knee and also wounded in the back. "It looks like Palin, Beck, Sharron Angle and the rest got their first target," Fuller says. "Their wish for Second Amendment activism has been fulfilled."

Link: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/01/14-14

The new mantra of the Republican Party is the old mantra -- regulation is a "job killer." It is certainly possible to have regulations kill jobs, and when I was a financial regulator I was a leader in cutting away many dumb requirements. But we have just experienced the epic ability of the anti-regulators to kill well over ten million jobs. Why then is there not a single word from the new House leadership about investigations to determine how the anti-regulators did their damage?

Link: http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/01/14

United for a Fair Economy Releases State of the Dream 2011: Austerity for Whom? for MLK Day. The official unemployment rate is 15.8 percent among Blacks and 13 percent among Latinos; Blacks earn only 57 cents for each dollar of White family income, Latinos earn 59 cents; and Blacks have only 10 cents of net wealth while Latinos have 12 cents to every dollar of net wealth that Whites have. As documented in the "State of the Dream 2011: Austerity for Whom?," this is the precarious state in which Blacks and Latinos find themselves as the nation, still struggling amidst the Great Recession, remembers the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. who was gunned down while leading the Poor People's Campaign in 1968.

Link: http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=54132

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana - In an emotionally charged meeting this week sponsored by the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, fishermen, Gulf residents and community leaders vented their increasingly grave concerns about the widespread health issues brought on by the three-month-long disaster.

Link: http://www.alternet.org/story/149522/is_this_the_end_of_sarah_palin_as_we_know_her/

The heat on Palin began almost immediately after the horrific Giffords shooting, when social media users, bloggers and journalists by the hundreds made the immediate connection between Giffords’ Arizona district and Palin’s infamous “reload” crosshairs map, which put a target over that district. This map from Palin's camp had bothered onlookers at the time: Giffords herself had warned about it having consequences. So it was natural that the map came back to mind. She is the darling of the Zionists.

Link: http://www.activistpost.com/2011/01/5-simple-ways-to-prepare-for-coming.html

Recently there has been an incredible flurry of news reporting about food shortages and the pending global food crisis. Everyone who looks at the indicators would agree that this crisis is only likely to worsen. It is estimated that the Australia floods alone could cause a 30% jump in food prices. Although the average shopper already can feel the food inflation, it is difficult to recognize the severity of the looming food shortages. After all, there are still 15 types of colorfully-boxed Cheerios packing the isles, which gives us the illusion of abundance.

Link: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/01/14/MNN41GL1NQ.DTL&tsp=1

Multiple chemicals, including some banned since the 1970s and others used in items such as nonstick cookware, furniture, processed foods and beauty products, were found in the blood and urine of pregnant U.S. women, according to a UCSF study being released today. This is what happens when a country lets corporations make the laws.

Link: http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/faultlines/2009/09/2009917132219605302.html

As the healthcare debate rages in the US, the fate of the hundreds of thousands of mentally ill people in jails and prisons in the US has been absent from the agenda. In a special report, Fault Lines' Josh Rushing visited detention facilities in Texas to discover how inmates with mental illness are treated.

Link: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2011/01/2011114124929346350.html

Summons issued to Italian prime minister for "improperly assisting" 17-year-old nightclub dancer. Berlusconi is already facing charges of fraud and corruption. Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian prime minister, is facing a prostitution investigation over allegations that he improperly assisted a teenaged nightclub dancer who attended parties at his private residence, prosecutors have said. The announcement comes a day after Italy's constitutional court partially struck down legislation that gave Berlusconi blanket immunity from prosecution. The embattled politician is already facing fraud and corruption charges, while he struggles to shore up his government's position in the parliament.

Link: http://www.countercurrents.org/reash140111.htm

Members of the Younis family watch while their home is demolished by the Israeli bulldozers in the West Bank village of Azzun Atma near Qalqiliya, January 11, 2011. Owner Mu’in Amin Younis, told Ma'an that he began building the home in 2003, on lands owned by his family. He had not yet completed the 130 meter structure when it was demolished.

Link: http://www.depositaccounts.com/blog/2011/01/just-one-bank-failure-today.html

The FDIC is starting off slowly in 2011. There was only one closure today which brings the total number of bank failures for 2011 to three. Oglethorpe Bank in Brunswick, Georgia was closed by regulators.

Link: http://myonline-reviews.com/an-fbi-which-hunt-compiling-lists-of-americans-21471

The FBI is compiling lists of Americans that are considered to be a potential threat. To make this list all you had to do was to criticize your representative or any political official. The FBI is making home visits to the people that have had this list. (being reported by InfoWars Website).

Link: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41062817/ns/business-consumer_news/

Activists from India's main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) women's wing shout slogans against the Congress-led government during a protest against an increase in milk, vegetables and food prices in New Delhi on April 1, 2010. The BJP activists protested against the price hikes of essential commodities. Food inflation is still at 17 percent according to official figures. Strained by rising demand and battered by bad weather, the global food supply chain is stretched to the limit, sending prices soaring and sparking concerns about a repeat of food riots last seen three years ago. Signs of the strain can be found from Australia to Argentina, Canada to Russia.

Link: http://www.counterpunch.org/petra01142011.html

“…people’s movements of resistance against deprivation, against unemployment, against the loss of natural resources, all of that is termed ‘terrorism.’” – Edward Said. The only known photograph of Rebecca Rubin is a headshot that looks like it was taken for her driver’s license. She’s wearing a plain gray sweatshirt, her long brown hair is unkempt, and her expression is careworn. But splashed across thousands of ‘Wanted’ posters across the country, her face aligned next to those of serial murderers and bank robbers, the headshot sends a message that she is someone to be frightened of. This, though Rubin – aliases “Kara” and “Little Missy” – has never harmed a soul. According to the FBI, Rubin, 37 years old, belongs to an ultra-radical group known as the Animal Liberation Front (ALF), which along with its sister organization, the Earth Liberation Front (ELF), authorities describe as “the most active extremist elements in the United States.”

Link: http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/01/14-5

The discussion of violent and paranoid rhetoric in the media is long overdue, whether or not it is ever determined that accused Tucson shooter Jared Lee Loughner was somehow influenced or motivated by such rhetoric. Before the shooting, there had been a remarkable surge of politically motivated violence (FAIR Blog, 1/12/11). Despite media efforts to suggest this is a problem coming from "both sides" (FAIR Blog, 1/10/11), any disinterested analysis would conclude that the rhetoric coming from the right is both far more virulent and is given a much higher profile by nationally syndicated talk radio and the Fox News Channel. [Washington Post columnist Charles Krauthammer suggested WikiLeaks' Julian Assange should be made to fear for his life, saying "it would be nice if people like Assange were made to worry every time they go out in the rain." (Fox News)]Washington Post columnist Charles Krauthammer suggested WikiLeaks' Julian Assange should be made to fear for his life, saying "it would be nice if people like Assange were made to worry every time they go out in the rain." (Fox News)

Link: http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/438591/10_awesome_things_mlk_said_that_you_won%27t_hear_this_weekend/

Right-wingers, after attacking, mocking and marginalizing Martin Luther King Jr. during his lifetime, and then assassinating him, have posthumously adopted him as one of their own.

Link: http://www.alternet.org/economy/149543/the_stakes_are_huge%3A_there%27s_another_bank_crash_looming%2C_and_we_must_prevent_another_bailout/

The housing bubble plus the worst recession since the Great Depression has created a foreclosure crisis of gargantuan proportions. Everything I am reading these days on financial issues points to some serious reckoning soon to come, especially because of -- as the folks at Third Way are calling it -- foreclosure-gate. The Massachusetts Supreme Court ruling in the Ibanez case, along with a growing body of cases where the banks and/or their servicers have been ruled against in foreclosure cases, and even the banks' lawyers are being castigated in court by judges for bringing in made-up paperwork, is causing a growing sense of panic among the biggest banks that hold the most mortgages.

Link: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financetopics/financialcrisis/5325805/Chinas-yuan-set-to-usurp-US-dollar-as-worlds-reserve-currency.html

The Chinese yuan is preparing to overtake the US dollar as the world's reserve currency, economist Nouriel Roubini has warned. Professor Roubini, of New York University's Stern business school, believes that while such a major change is some way off, the Chinese government is laying the ground for the yuan's ascendance. Known as "Dr Doom" for his negative stance, Prof Roubini argues that China is better placed than the US to provide a reserve currency for the 21st century because it has a large current account surplus, focused government and few of the economic worries the US faces.