Here are some updates on some issues I touch on in my column for UncommonWisdomDaily.com today and in my book …
ENERGY …
U.S. Faces Extended Power Outages, Largest Grid Builder Says
The U.S. faces longer power outages resulting from storms this year after utilities cut spending on maintenance by as much as 50 percent, according to Quanta Services Inc., the world’s largest builder of transmission lines.
“Because they haven’t been doing maintenance for a few years, we will see longer outages and we will see more frequent outages as storm season approaches,” Chief Executive Officer John R. Colson said yesterday in an interview in Bloomberg’s Houston office. “It’s a frequent, very frequent occurrence that cities are affected by storms that shouldn’t really affect their distribution systems, and they are devastated and they are out of electricity for days and days.”
WATER …
Water woes are headed eastward
Mark Twain famously said that, in California, water flows uphill toward money. But political machinations, such as the water grab that enabled the metropolis of Los Angeles to sprout in a land of little rain, aren’t uniquely Californian.
Today the epic water rights battles fought in the arid West — over irrigation, drinking water, ecosystems and dams — are moving east, as a growing population and changing climate put new pressures on water availability.
FOOD …
Global Asset Trends for 2010, Commodity Market Forecasts
With expanding populations, and increased prosperity in developing nations, there is little margin for error if a catastrophe did occur. The current El Niño could become more severe, causing crop failures and fires as in 1997-98. The Ug99 stem rust fungus might reach global wheat belts next year, causing devastating losses. While prosperous nations won’t go hungry, disappointing harvests will curb exports, leaving poor countries at the mercy of local rainfall.
DEBT …
Democrats propose $1.9T increase in debt limit
WASHINGTON – Senate Democrats on Wednesday proposed allowing the federal government to borrow an additional $1.9 trillion to pay its bills, a record increase that would permit the national debt to reach $14.3 trillion.
The unpopular legislation is needed to allow the federal government to issue bonds to fund programs and prevent a first-time default on obligations. It promises to be a challenging debate for Democrats, who, as the party in power, hold the responsibility for passing the legislation.
Unfunded Benefits Dig States’ $3 Trillion Hole
Everyone seems to know the current path of federal fiscal policy is a deathtrap over the long term. What’s peculiar is the relative inattention to the balance sheets of state and local governments. Hidden behind accounting fictions, the politically unspeakable reality is that public employee pension systems are under-funded by more than $2 trillion. Add more than $1 trillion in unfunded health-care benefits for retired public employees, and state governments face protracted structural deficits ranging from challenging to insurmountable.
CLIMATE
The U.N.’s leading panel on climate change has apologized for misleading data published in a 2007 report that warned Himalayan glaciers could melt by 2035.
Also …
The bad news: Himalayan glaciers are still melting
Here we go again. The Manufactured Doubt Industrial Complex cries hoax after the IPCC retracts a bogus prediction about the melting of the Himalayan glaciers from a climate change report.
Once again, the climate change deniers are lying. Well, some of them, the smarter ones (the paid), are lying, the rest believe whatever the liars tell them (the played). Here’s the straight story on this.
SELF DEFENSE (GUNS)
Ham radio operators were fired upon when they tried to reach Port Au Prince to assist in setting up communications. They were fired upon by escaped convicts. Gangs return to Haiti slum after quake prison break. The gangs also went to the Justice Ministry and burned everything that still stood in order to destroy all criminal records forever in Haiti. They are armed with automatic weapons. They are killers. And now they are back in the population, en masse.
There are reasons why I tell people that they need to be prepared to defend themselves. Those of you who think you are safe in some gun control country like Canada or Britain and who live out in the countryside might want to ask some of the Serb rural folk how that turned out for them. Or maybe even how the wealthy fared in the former USSR as it crumbled. Those bent on evil towards their fellow man will always find a way to arm themselves. Britain has a larger firearms problem now than any time in the last 120 years and what is the British response? To propose more gun control laws. Gee, the definition of insanity is continuing to do the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.
If you want to ride these big trends, sign up for Crisis Profit Hunter today — CLICK HERE.
Quote of the Day: “You can’t have a recovery when the middle class is being consumed by criminals” — Greyzone
Related Posts
- A Post I Really Don’t Want to Write … On Climate Change (03/16/10)
- Uranium Update (11/25/09)
- Food For Thought — Watch This Video (10/25/09)
- Are Americans Starting to Worry About Food Su… (05/06/08)
- Bearish news on energy (08/28/08)
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Why would you post a link to Shea Gunther’s political blog. Do you believe anything he says?
Hi, Rick
I’d say Shea Gunther is at least as reliable as Drudge. I don’t agree with all (or even most) of Shea’s opinions, and only linked to that column because it had the story I was looking for. No one is correct all the time. Some people deliberately lie or mislead a lot more than others. Who you choose to believe is a matter of personal choice.