We should not be surprised. That's the view of many climate scientists as they survey the destruction wrought by the superstorm that ravaged the Northeast this week. The melting of Arctic ice, rising sea levels, the warming atmosphere and changes to weather patterns are a potent combination likely to produce storms and tidal surges of unprecedented intensity, according to many experts.
Major devastation in New Orleans. 500 year flood in Atlanta. 500 year flood in Nashville. Unusual winter temperatures and snow fall levels. Record summer heat waves. Massive tornado outbreaks. Repeated, record water levels and devastation in NYC.
None of these extreme weather events is directly "caused" by global warming. Global warming makes extreme weather events more likely to occur, in general.
That process cannot be stopped and will continue to get worse as we move into the future. Therefore, events like these will continue to unfold and will become the new normal.
People will die as a consequence of these events.
Over the long haul, all the sarcastic dismissal of global warming that conservatives have engaged in will prove to be extremely politically damaging for them in light of the reality that people are now experiencing. They looked at a bunch of facts and made a long term political bet against them.
We're running right into those facts like a brick wall.
FRBSF Economic Letter: Boomer Retirement: Headwinds for U.S. Equity Markets? (2011-26, 8/22/2011)
Topic: Miscellaneous
1:54 pm EDT, Oct 29, 2012
Despite theoretical ambiguities, U.S. equity values have been closely related to demographic trends in the past half century. There has been a tight correlation between population dependency ratios, such as the M/O ratio, and the P/E ratio of the U.S. stock market. In the context of the impending retirement of baby boomers over the next two decades, this correlation portends poorly for equity values.
Not that long ago, the U.S. had that global economy all to itself. From the 1950s to the 1980s, it was the world’s dominant producer and consumer. In countries spanning Europe to Latin America, and throughout Asia, success was determined by how well they could siphon off a bit of this incredible growth. Things began to change in the 1970s, however, when Japan and Germany started making cars and factory equipment and electronic gadgets that beat their American competitors. And for the next 30 years, the U.S. struggled to adjust to increasingly competitive Asian and Latin American producers. But as long as it remained the world’s largest consumer market, the U.S. maintained lots of leverage. The government persuaded Pakistan to join the global war on terror, for instance, partly by promising its sock manufacturers duty-free access to its market.
Michael Hudson: how finance capital leads to debt servitude | Ian Fraser
Topic: Miscellaneous
1:52 pm EDT, Oct 28, 2012
This is the basic problem with the Anglo-American-Dutch banking system. Instead of extending loans to create new factories to employ people, new means of production, bankers look at what can be pledged as collateral on which they can foreclose.
Stock markets were supposed to supply “equity investment” capital. But they have been turned into a vehicle for debt-financed leverage buyouts (LBOs). Raiders borrow money much like landlords borrow to buy a rental property and bleed it. This turns corporate cash flow into interest. Governments permit this to be tax-deductible, so this encouragement of debt financing over equity worsens their fiscal position. It forces them into debt to bondholders. So the process becomes a deteriorating financial spiral.
Watch the entire 30-minute Urban Outlaw documentary
Topic: Miscellaneous
11:44 am EDT, Oct 20, 2012
The fuller version of Urban Outlaw debuted at the Raindance Film Festival in London, and is now available to watch from the comfort of your own computer. Sit back, grab your Porsche hat, dim the lights and enjoy the complete story by scrolling down below.
“The three discussed certain Islamic legal rulings that advise that it is unlawful for a person who enters a country with a visa to wage jihad there,” the complaint says. Mr. Nafis told his confidants that he had sought the advice of someone in his native Bangladesh, who said he wasn’t bound by such rulings.
“Accordingly, Nafis indicated that he believed that he was free to continue with his plan to conduct a terrorist attack on U.S. soil,” the complaint says.
Man held in NYC plot to blow up Federal Reserve | www.ajc.com
Topic: Miscellaneous
8:01 am EDT, Oct 18, 2012
Nafis attended Southeast Missouri State University during the spring semester, which ran from January to May, university spokeswoman Ann Hayes told The Associated Press. He was pursuing a bachelor's degree in cybersecurity.
FBI — Joint Terrorism Task Force Arrests Man in Lower Manhattan After He Attempted to Bomb New York Federal Reserve Bank
Topic: Miscellaneous
7:51 am EDT, Oct 18, 2012
Earlier this morning, Nafis met the undercover agent and traveled in a van to a warehouse located in the Eastern District of New York. While en route, Nafis explained to the undercover agent that he had a “Plan B” that involved conducting a suicide bombing operation in the event that the attack was about to be thwarted by the police. Upon arriving at the warehouse, Nafis assembled what he believed to be a 1,000-pound bomb inside the van. Nafis and the undercover agent then drove to the New York Federal Reserve Bank. During this drive, Nafis armed the purported bomb by assembling the detonator and attaching it to the explosives. Nafis and the undercover agent parked the van next to the New York Federal Reserve Bank, exited the van, and walked to a nearby hotel. There, Nafis recorded a video statement to the American public that he intended to release in connection with the attack. During this video statement, Nafis stated, “We will not stop until we attain victory or martyrdom.” Nafis then repeatedly, but unsuccessfully, attempted to detonate the bomb, which had been assembled using the inert explosives provided by the undercover agent. JTTF agents arrested Nafis immediately after he attempted to detonate the bomb. Throughout the morning, federal, state, and local law enforcement officials, working with the JTTF, closely monitored the movements of Nafis as he attempted to implement the attack, including assuring that the van was not stopped by NYPD counterterrorism units active in lower Manhattan.
