5 thoughts on “Record Snow in US, Roses in Germany, Drowning in UK – the Winter of Extremes”
Some of us see the zaniness of globalization and call it globaloney. Here’s a prime example of a maladaptive response to the drought in the US Southwest.
Well spotted.
This highlights one of the absurdities in a completely market-driven system.
As the world needs joined-up and ethical government, it also needs joined-up and ethical capitalism as the walls of the little blue Petri dish close in.
It’s a pity that hard consequencies have to happen before people realise they could have been avoided with better planning.
Water! Corruption! And we’re not in Chinatown, Lou!
Flood Insurance in the news.
With the recent interest here at Crocks regarding the lousy news coverage at NBC, I bring up an item that has my head about to spin into orbit. Once again, NBC seems hellbent on being about as schizophrenic about predictable coastal flooding as any news org I’ve seen before.
The embedded video however is a doozy, as if NBC were trying to keep up with ABC’s right-wing nutcase John Stossel for the most Tea Party friendly interview they could come up with. Instead of focusing on the real issue that the federal flood insurance program is flat broke, actually in debt for $24 Billion, and needs to re-balance premiums with payouts, the damn NBC reporter wants to let the viewer know that the government is the bad guy, as always. Sheesh. How about for once saying that a nation that refuses to live in reality might be the real issue we need to face?
Yves Smith covers some of the more important policy matters in a nicely written item at Naked Capitalism:
With Yves, I think we get the right interpretation. The taxpayers are being abused by a system rigged to pay off the rich who love their ocean views and who refuse to pay up for the privilege. Including, ironically enough, ABC’s John Stossel who regrets that he has been forced to collect way more in insurance payouts on his ocean view property than he ever paid in in premiums. And gloats about it. You’d just like to turn the guy into a twizzle stick some days. Party on, animals!
Some of us see the zaniness of globalization and call it globaloney. Here’s a prime example of a maladaptive response to the drought in the US Southwest.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-26124989
[Video at Website]
Headline: California drought: Why some farmers are ‘exporting water’ to China
Well spotted.
This highlights one of the absurdities in a completely market-driven system.
As the world needs joined-up and ethical government, it also needs joined-up and ethical capitalism as the walls of the little blue Petri dish close in.
It’s a pity that hard consequencies have to happen before people realise they could have been avoided with better planning.
Maps, courtesy of Bloomberg:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-02-07/data-made-beautiful-weather-climate-and-fracking-water.html
***
The map showing water stress and oil & gas fracking is an “age of limits” classic:
http://www.ceres.org/issues/water/valuing-every-drop-1/shale-energy/shale-and-water-maps/water-competition
Water! Corruption! And we’re not in Chinatown, Lou!
Flood Insurance in the news.
With the recent interest here at Crocks regarding the lousy news coverage at NBC, I bring up an item that has my head about to spin into orbit. Once again, NBC seems hellbent on being about as schizophrenic about predictable coastal flooding as any news org I’ve seen before.
The article isn’t so bad.
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/investigations/why-taxpayers-will-bail-out-rich-when-next-storm-hits-n25901
The embedded video however is a doozy, as if NBC were trying to keep up with ABC’s right-wing nutcase John Stossel for the most Tea Party friendly interview they could come up with. Instead of focusing on the real issue that the federal flood insurance program is flat broke, actually in debt for $24 Billion, and needs to re-balance premiums with payouts, the damn NBC reporter wants to let the viewer know that the government is the bad guy, as always. Sheesh. How about for once saying that a nation that refuses to live in reality might be the real issue we need to face?
Yves Smith covers some of the more important policy matters in a nicely written item at Naked Capitalism:
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2014/02/yes-virginia-pay-subsidies-just-banks-flood-prone-homes-rich.html
With Yves, I think we get the right interpretation. The taxpayers are being abused by a system rigged to pay off the rich who love their ocean views and who refuse to pay up for the privilege. Including, ironically enough, ABC’s John Stossel who regrets that he has been forced to collect way more in insurance payouts on his ocean view property than he ever paid in in premiums. And gloats about it. You’d just like to turn the guy into a twizzle stick some days. Party on, animals!
Here in northern England the daffodils are beginning to open. We also had a butterfly at the weekend. However the garden is a quagmire.
It’s a crazy year. The last three years we’ve been buried in snow.