About War: In Eastern Ukraine government troops using tanks, artillery and rockets lay siege to the pro-Russian city of Slovansk. Russia said it would treat any further eastward expansion of NATO as a "demonstration of hostile intentions" and pointedly asked Finland if it wanted to “start World War III”. Ever sensitive to nuance, the US is pushing the Czech Republic and Slovakia into closer cooperation with NATO while Britain is calling up long discharged Russian linguists 'in case' and the US dispatches stealth bombers to Europe. No wonder that anti-American sentiment is growing in Russia.
Crass Warfare: ‘Homeless spikes’ have been installed outside pricey London residences to keep the homeless from roosting.
Qui Bono: Who are these minimum wage earners that the liberals want to coddle and the right want to crush? On average they are 35 year old white women high school grads and 10% are college grads, half working part time, the rest full time and both have to dash home to take care of the kids. It's obvious they don't need a raise. They need a whole new economic paradigm.
I'm Lovin' It: McDonalds has now gone seven months without monthly sales increase.
Days Of Our Lives: In Lee County, FL, after a man killed his three daughters, his wife and himself, the sheriff noted that while this was the largest mass shooting in the county's history, it was just an”‘everyday USA’ mass killing. (See Chicago, where 3 were killed and 19 wounded by gunfire on Friday night, bringing Chicago's homicide total to 157 so far this year. Foul play is suspected.
Bottom of the Barrel: The IEA says the petroleum producers will have to invest $48 trillion in the next 20 years to meet the world's energy needs. But the industry is cutting back on investment in exploration and production because $100 a barrel doesn't cover the costs, much less the interest on another $2 trillion in borrowing every year. The IEA also pointed out, again, that the bloom is off the shale oil boom and sees production of tight oil falling by 2020. If not before.
Being Prepared: How much military gear does your local cop shop have, and why?
Clarification: It is not a question of will we or won't we keep global warming below 2ºC, we've already failed that one. The question is how badly we'll fail and how long we'll continue to fail. And current evidence suggests that we will fail badly – with a 4ºC stir-fry scheduled for 2100 – and continue to fail until we're not capable of failing or flailing any more. The world will get hotter as we load more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. But every time we reduce our emissions, we reduce our economic output – and we are never going to do that voluntarily. A 2-degree world will be one without coral reefs. Past 4 degrees, it may well be a world without human civilization.
Creative Recycling: Covanta Holding Corp. announced it is cutting jobs and raising its dividends. Any question?
Porn O'Graph: Spreading the jobs around.
The Parting Shot:
2 comments:
CK,
Thanks for your blog. I'm a long time reader, never commented before.
I enjoy your photos as well. Looks like your climate is similar to mine, which is in SW Va.
But I also find them painful; this is what we are hell bent on destroying.
Keith
Keith - Thanks for the note. Both your observations are right. ckm.
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