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9/16/2005

Global Warming 'Past the Point of No Return' :.

A record loss of sea ice in the Arctic this summer has convinced scientists that the northern hemisphere may have crossed a critical threshold beyond which the climate may never recover. Scientists fear that the Arctic has now entered an irreversible phase of warming which will accelerate the loss of the polar sea ice that has helped to keep the climate stable for thousands of years.

They believe global warming is melting Arctic ice so rapidly that the region is beginning to absorb more heat from the sun, causing the ice to melt still further and so reinforcing a vicious cycle of melting and heating.

The greatest fear is that the Arctic has reached a "tipping point" beyond which nothing can reverse the continual loss of sea ice and with it the massive land glaciers of Greenland, which will raise sea levels dramatically.



Feds Plan Tent City Suburbs :.

How about forming intentional communities where small-group self sufficiency is the goal? HAHA! Think again:

The settlements would range from 2,000 to 25,000 units - mostly prefabricated houses and mobile homes - arranged in loose street grids. They will ideally be placed within a short drive of pre-existing shopping centers, grocery stores and gas stations to make life easier for evacuees.



Solar-Augmented Toyota Prius Project :.

The only shocker here is that it took this long for someone to do it!

A Canadian engineer has prototyped a Photovoltaic Prius---a 2001 Prius augmented with roof-top solar panels and an additional battery system to supplement the charge in the original equipment NiMH batteries.

More: Photovoltaic BingoFuel Hybrid Car



Crazy Loans: Is this How the Boom Ends? :.

I wish I could tell you what I know...

Lenders are pushing risky loans with low payments. Desperate home buyers snap them up. Worried yet?

Term of the Day: Scratch and Dent Loans


9/15/2005

Dead Birds

I ride an electric scooter to and from work. Over the last 24 hours, I've seen four dead crows and three dead ducks on my commute. The crows were all near busy roads. The ducks were adrift in the shallow water in the Santa Ana River.

Possible explanation for the ducks: A few days ago, in the morning, I passed a crew that had strung a spraying device across the entire width of the river. I assumed it was some kind of mosquito eradication effort? I don't know what they were spraying. I noticed that on my ride back home, ALL of the ducks were gone. There are usually hundreds of ducks in that stretch of the river in the afternoon.

Maybe it's all A-OK, situation-normal in Irvine, CA to see lots of dead birds. I mean, this place is so f*cked up---who is to say what's normal or not normal in this place?! I guess I'm wondering if any of you have noticed birds dropping dead where you are over the last few days. If you have something to say, consider using the forum.

Thanks.



Atta Papers Destroyed on Orders :.

A Pentagon employee was ordered to destroy documents that identified Mohamed Atta as a terrorist two years before the 2001 attacks, a congressman said Thursday.

The employee is prepared to testify next week before the Senate Judiciary Committee and was expected to name the person who ordered him to destroy the large volume of documents, said Rep. Curt Weldon, R-Pa.

Weldon declined to name the employee, citing confidentiality matters. Weldon described the documents as "2.5 terabytes" - as much as one-fourth of all the printed materials in the Library of Congress, he added.



Gold Stays Close to 17-Year High :.

Gold on Thursday moved to within striking distance of its highest level in more than 17 years as speculators continued to buy the precious metal as a hedge against further falls in the dollar due to the high US trade and budget deficits.

Bullion peaked at $455.10 a troy ounce in London trade, its highest level since last December's peak of $456.75, which in turn was a level previously reached in December 1987.



Cryptogon Reader Contributes $20

Thanks MW!


9/14/2005

Cheney Diverted Power from Hospitals to Oil Pipeline :.

Shortly after Hurricane Katrina roared through South Mississippi knocking out electricity and communication systems, the White House ordered power restored to a pipeline that sends fuel to the Northeast.

That order - to restart two power substations in Collins that serve Colonial Pipeline Co. - delayed efforts by at least 24 hours to restore power to two rural hospitals and a number of water systems in the Pine Belt.

...

Dan Jordan, manager of Southern Pines Electric Power Association, said Vice President Dick Cheney's office called and left voice mails twice shortly after the storm struck, saying the Collins substations needed power restored immediately.



Certified Jeans Seattle :.

If you're like me, you can feel the aura of death that surrounds clothes made in a dungeon. Certified Jeans cost the same as the Lucky Brand jeans I've been buying for the last fifteen years. I don't know if they are as good, so if you get a pair, let me know.

Note: Buying guilt free jeans is not a substitute for substantive, lifestyle altering behavior, but it's better than buying clothes that were made in a dungeon.



Philadelphia Highschoolers Build Hybrid Supercar for $15,000 :.

No comment necessary:

The West Philadelphia High School Electric Vehicle Team built this biodiesel car that gets 50 mpg (4.7l/100 km), has over 300 hp and does 0 to 60 in under 4 seconds, all that with a budget of $15,000!

TH writes:
Sorry,
Story is bullsh*t....
Would be nice if everyone got freebie handouts from corporations looking for
tax-deductable donations and free publicity.... Hell, I would even go build
one (I'm a girl-motorhead) Then we could say it really is 15K
The just the kit costs more than a assembled H2 Hummer (as per website)
TH has somewhat of a valid point. I guess.

Let's say the total cost was $100,000. Let's say it was a million dollars. Two million. Ten million. Whatever! What's bullsh*t, TH, is that no major auto company has made a car like this available. How many billions of dollars have been spent on hybrid research and design by these crooked corporations? And what have we got to choose from? Prius? Insight!? Etc. Blah. * yawn * Ok, so, in reality, the kids' project cost somewhat more than $15,000. The point is that they managed to do what all the auto manufacturers on the planet REFUSE to do.

More: Watch NBC News Video About the Attack Hybrid


9/13/2005

Skin of Executed Chinese Prisoners Made Into Beauty Products :.

Nope. This isn't a joke:

A Chinese cosmetics company is using skin harvested from the corpses of executed convicts to develop beauty products for sale in Europe, an investigation by the Guardian has discovered.

Agents for the firm have told would-be customers it is developing collagen for lip and wrinkle treatments from skin taken from prisoners after they have been shot. The agents say some of the company's products have been exported to the UK, and that the use of skin from condemned convicts is "traditional" and nothing to "make such a big fuss about".


More Cryptogon coverage of Chinese fascism.

Research Credit: AM



Collapsitalism :.

As I was reading this article, a new term came to mind: Collapsitalism. It doesn't exactly roll off the tongue, but it pretty much sums up the situation:

A team of investigators is being sent to the Hurricane Katrina-ravaged Gulf Coast to follow the money - namely, billions of dollars in relief aid the federal government is pouring into the region without normal contracting safeguards.

The 30 Homeland Security Department investigators and auditors are part of what officials call an unprecedented effort to ensure federal funds are properly distributed in a rescue, relief and rebuilding process expected to exceed $100 billion.

The team is being dispatched to monitor government contractors' work in Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi as critics call the spending deluge a disaster in waiting if not properly controlled.



Subaru R1e :.

It might be too little, too late, but I still wouldn't mind having one:

Japan's biggest power company is teaming up with Subaru's parent company to develop environmentally friendly electric vehicles that can travel up to 50 miles on a single charge.

Fuji Heavy Industries will provide Tokyo Electric Power Co. with 10 vehicles based on its Subaru R1e minicar, and TEPCO will develop a recharger that works in about 15 minutes, the companies said last Friday.


9/12/2005

U.K.: Petrol Panic Begins to Spread as Oil Prices Rise :.

Punters:

EMERGENCY powers to reserve fuel for essential users will be reviewed by ministers and oil companies today amid panic buying at petrol stations across the country.

Dozens of filling stations ran dry yesterday after bogus reports of weekend panic proved self-fulfilling when motorists rushed to join queues at the pumps. Hundreds more forecourts are expected to run out of fuel by lunchtime today despite concerted efforts by oil companies to calm the situation by denying that there was a problem.



Worker Error Kills Power to Half of L.A. :.

If this is the result of worker error, why haven't the "terrorists" taken the U.S. down to its knees? Hmmm? Anyone?

Maybe the terrorists don't have access to ladders, hatchets and other goods available from Home Depot:

A power failure in Los Angeles, the second-largest U.S. city, darkened downtown and several nearby cities, trapping people in elevators, disrupting refineries and snarling traffic.

The blackout started around 12:35 p.m. local time, and almost all who lost power had it restored by 2 p.m., said Kim Hughes, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, the nation's largest municipal utility.

Power was lost in an area with about 2 million people after a worker with the utility accidentally overloaded a transmission line, tripping circuit protectors, Hughes said. Overloading the line caused an automatic shutdown of other lines to prevent damage to equipment.


9/11/2005

Firms with Bush-Cheney Ties Clinching Katrina Deals :.

The links that bind the subgovernment together are strongest when the stench of death is still hanging in the air:

Companies with ties to the Bush White House and the former head of FEMA are clinching some of the administration's first disaster relief and reconstruction contracts in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

At least two major corporate clients of lobbyist Joe Allbaugh, President George W. Bush's former campaign manager and a former head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, have already been tapped to start recovery work along the battered Gulf Coast.

One is Shaw Group Inc. and the other is Halliburton Co. subsidiary Kellogg Brown and Root. Vice President Dick Cheney is a former head of Halliburton.

Bechtel National Inc., a unit of San Francisco-based Bechtel Corp., has also been selected by FEMA to provide short-term housing for people displaced by the hurricane. Bush named Bechtel's CEO to his Export Council and put the former CEO of Bechtel Energy in charge of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation.

Experts say it has been common practice in both Republican and Democratic administrations for policy makers to take lobbying jobs once they leave office, and many of the same companies seeking contracts in the wake of Hurricane Katrina have already received billions of dollars for work in Iraq.



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Thanks for trying some Limu, WS. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.




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