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"..what the planet's telling us": Blizzards,tornadoes,floods,record heat,drought,wildfires. Disasters cost US 36+billion this yr

Flood waters from the Passaic River fill the streets covering automobiles including a Chevrolet SUV days after Hurricane Irene in Paterson, New Jersey, August 31, 2011.

Even before Hurricane Irene struck two weeks ago, the costs added up to $35 billion.

(quote)

Weather disasters keep costing U.S. billions this year - Blizzards. Tornadoes. Floods. Record heat and drought, followed by wildfires.

The first eight months of 2011 have brought strange and destructive weather to the United States. From the blizzard that dumped almost two feet of snow on Chicago, to killer tornadoes and heat waves in the south, to record flooding, to wildfires that have burned more than 1,000 homes in Texas in the last few days, Mother Nature has been in a vile and costly mood.

Climate experts point to global warming, meteorologists cite the influence of the La Nina weather phenomenon or natural variability and, in the case of tornadoes hitting populated areas, many simply call the death and destruction bad luck.

But given the variety and violence of both short-term weather events and longer-term effects like a Southwestern drought that has lasted years, more scientists say climate itself seems to be shifting and weather extremes will become more common.

"A warmer atmosphere has more energy to power storms. We've loaded the dice," said Jeff Masters, co-founder and director of meteorology for Weather Underground, Inc, speaking on Wednesday at a news conference on climate. "Years like 2011 may become the new normal in the United States in coming decades."  read more »

Photo: US narrowly avoids default.. $14.3 trillion debt.. 7-year-old girl holds sign in Washington DC - "Why Do I Owe $46,000?"

*Update* March 19, 2012 - http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/ - "The Outstanding Public Debt as of 19 Mar 2012 is: $15,580,446,972,442
The estimated population of US is 312,429,020
Each citizen's share of this debt is $49,868.76.
The National Debt has continued to increase an average of $4.02 billion per day since September 28, 2007!"

Not happy: Holly Matthews, aged seven, of Kansas City, Missouri, holds a sign supporting a balanced budget amendment, just before the House voted to pass debt legislation
(quote)
[Aug. 2, 2011] Holly Matthews, 7, of Kansas City, Mo., holds a sign supporting a balanced budget amendment just before the House voted Monday to pass debt legislation on Capitol Hill in Washington.

BARE BASSINET: Weld County Sheriff’s Deputy Mary Schwartz reached out to a toddler as a home-foreclosure eviction was carried out in Milliken, Colo., Wednesday.

08/17/2011 abcnews.com 14.7M Children in Poverty One child out of every five in the U.S. suffers from hunger - stunning key findings

11/23/2011 CNN Report: 1 in 5 U.S. children at risk of hungerThe number of families that struggle to get enough food has increased in recent years. The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported that in 2010, 14.5% of households in US -- about 17.2 million -- lacked the resources to provide enough food for everybody.  read more »

Presumed Innocent. Friend, wife, ex-wife and 60% of French people believe Strauss-Kahn's innocent when he's accused of 7 charges

Dominique Strauss-Kahn, International Monetary Fund Managing Director, and his wife Anne Sinclair together at the Senate in Paris

Bernard-Henri Lévy defends friend Dominique Strauss-Kahn who was arrested by New York City Police for allegedly sexually attacking a hotel maid

(quote)

(Reuters) - Anne Sinclair, the wealthy and popular journalist married to Dominique Strauss-Kahn, has chosen to stand by her man, even though the IMF chief faces charges of attempted rape: "I do not believe for a single second the accusations leveled against my husband."

The prize-winning, blue-eyed television interviewer first met Strauss-Kahn in 1989 at the apex of her career as a political talk-show host on French channel TFI. For years her celebrity largely eclipsed his. She became his third wife in 1996. He is her second husband.

People who know them say they are an affectionate couple who have an easy relationship and like to vacation together with friends in their holiday home in the Moroccan town of Marrakesh.

Sinclair sacrificed her career to his, giving up her popular prime-time Sunday show -- which featured guests from President Bill Clinton to Madonna and every major French political leader -- when her husband was appointed finance minister in 1997. Many on the center-left saw her as an ideal "first lady" if, as expected, Strauss-Kahn sought the Socialist nomination for the 2012 presidential election.  read more »

Germany says no to Iraq war, no to Libya war, but takes lead in wind and solar, turning renewable energy vision into reality

left: Germany leading world in solar power; right: French fighter planes soar over Libya
Choice for mankind sharing one planet - where to spend big? To make our only Earth greener, or grayer?

(quote)
Upper left: Germany Launched "5M" wind turbine, which is designed and built by Germany's REpower Company.
Center left: Germany has considerably increased the number of windfarms on off-shore locations.
Lower left: For the first time in the Solar Decathlon, a home that has produced twice the amount of energy as it used, won the first prize. And it did so in a very unusual way.
Upper right: French fighter jets soared over Libya.

Center right: French Mirage 2000 jet fighters are lined up awaiting a mission to Libya, at Solenzara 126 Air Base, Corsica island, France.
Lower right: Smoke billows as seven explosions rocked the Libyan capital Tripoli earlier this week. New air strikes have reportedly claimed at least 40 civilians.

Renewable Energy is a Reality and not a Vision. Germany gains more energy from solar technology than Japan gains from all its nuclear reactors. Development in this area occurred much faster in the last years than many expected. Ten years ago no one would have believed we could gain 17 percent of our electricity supply from renewable energy.

“RENEWABLE ENERGY IS A REALITY AND NOT A VISION”  read more »

Crisis & solution: Japan cuts interest rates to zero; Italy & Greece receive stimulus package from China

Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi, shakes the hand of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, right, as they arrive for a joint news conference at Villa Madama in Rome

after nearly two weeks of demonstrations, Greek farmers used their tractors to block border crossings and highways across the country for days, demanding financial help from the government. A farmer hits a riot police officer with his crook at the main port of Piraeus, near Athens, Feb. 2, 2009

Greek Prime Minister Papandreou spoke on Greece's economic plight at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Low rates in Japan and US have yet to boost economies.

(quote)

Bank of Japan surprised the world by cutting it's already low-interest rates to effectively zero.

The Japanese central bank is trying to boost its weak economy by making it cheaper for its businesses and citizens to borrow. It also hopes that the low-interest rates will cause the value of its currency, the yen, which has been rising recently, up 12% in the past six months alone, to fall. A weaker yen could boost exports by making Japanese goods cheaper to foreigners.  read more »

Ocean guardians: father-son team Ric & Lincoln O'Barry reveal the truth behind dolphin trade in "The Cove" & "Blood Dolphins"

Mammal specialist Richard O'Barry, left, and son Lincoln watch dolphins at an aquarium during his tour to Taiji, Japan.

Taiji, Japan - blood from annual mass dolphin massacre stains the cove red.

(quote)

Interview: “Blood Dolphins” Star Lincoln O’Barry

Ric O'Barry has been a leader against the cruelty inflicted upon dolphins since his days working with them during the 1960s television series "Flipper." One of the areas of the world that O'Barry, along with his son Lincoln, have targeted over the past few years is Taiji, Japan where a spot called "The Cove" became the basis of an Academy Award-winning 2009 documentary about their efforts to stop the slaughtering of dolphins. With their new three-part Animal Planet mini-series, "Blood Dolphins," the O'Barrys pick up where "The Cove" left off with the team again trying to save the lives of innocent dolphins from senseless slaughter. Besides Taiji, the men travel to the Solomon Islands, which has been labeled one of the worst areas in the world for killing dolphins for profit. Our Jim Halterman talked with Lincoln O'Barry earlier this week about the dangers of bringing cameras to further document the dolphin trade as well as how one part of the dolphin - its teeth - is viewed in some regions as more valuable than actual currency.

Jim Halterman: Your dad has been involved with saving dolphins for decades and now you're involved with his activism. Was this never a question that this was your path in life?  read more »

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