New statistics out of Greece show that austerity shrunk the economy more than expected last year. GDP in Greece fell 6.8% in 2011, and a slightly faster 7% in the fourth quarter. The country is in a fifth straight year of recession, approaching a full-on depression.
European leaders are still trying to impose more austerity, but some Eurozone finance ministers may be trying to force a default and exit from the euro.

Chocolate. Roses. Kittens. Lotz of kittehs.

For what it’s worth, I have zero problem with people buying each other gifts or going out for a nice meal, if that’s what turns your crank. I have a major, major problem with yet another potentially sweet holiday being turned into a festival of misogyny and meanness.

Apple’s trademark is the intuitive elegance of its designs. Yet when it comes corporate and labor practices, Apple’s track record looks like a morass of obfuscation and murky public-relations smokscreens. So activists seeking a more user-friendly Apple on the human rights front should welcome the company’s new “Supplier Responsibility” report.

Pressure on House Republicans may have doomed anti-piracy legislation for the year. Darrell Issa, who along with Ron Wyden has been out in front of the opposition to SOPA and PIPA, the respective bills on this issue, says that he secured a promise from House Majority Leader Eric Cantor that no bill will hit the House floor without “consensus.”

Grab the beverage and morning comestibles of your choice, kick back and chat, and imagine that two pairs of soulful brown eyes are watching your every move to see if you wind up dropping a piece of bacon on the floor. (Please don’t, it’s too salty for them!)

When your thoughts turn to helplessness regarding the corporate control of government and the dissolution of the rule of law, think about what one motivated federal judge can do. Judge Jed Rakoff’s ruling blocking an SEC settlement with Citigroup over mortgage backed securities misrepresentations has had major ripple effects (and not just with Matt Taibbi). Of particular interest to many was the SEC’s peculiar wording in almost all of their financial fraud cases, allowing the settlement partner to “neither admit or deny” wrongdoing. This limits the exposure of the offending party in other civil and criminal suits. It was the part that Rakoff objected to the most.

And this had an immediate impact.

Now that we have the first set of entirely post-Iowa polling numbers in New Hampshire we can see that Rick Santorum’s extremely close second place finish in the caucuses gave him a big bump in support.

Another researcher has come out complaining about how a religious right “expert” distorted her work to stigmatize the lgbtq community.

This whole Maya calendar end of the world whoohaa has reached such a pitch that White House.gov for goodness sakes created a link about the idiocy which sends you/me to the answers.USA.gov site with further links to NASA’s point of view on the subject.