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What's really at play here is persistent poverty and Wall Street seeking to make a dime off the poor, while Washington looks the other way.
Sure, the CEOs and hedge fund managers were greedy. There's no question that wealth and the pursuit thereof led to the sub-prime fiasco and the decline of Lehman Brothers, AIG, Merrill Lynch and more. But what's really at play here is persistent poverty and Wall Street seeking to make a dime off the poor, consequences be damned, while Washington looks the other way.
What's spurring regulatory action? Studies such as a July report claiming Nevada could suffer serious economic losses from global warming, for one.
The University of Maryland study, called "Climate Change and the Economy," asserts that a 3- to 4-degree jump in spring and fall temperatures and a 5- to 6-degree gain in winter and summer temperatures in Nevada by 2100 would yield a drier climate in the Silver State. Dwindling water supplies could affect tourism, development and public health, and could cost the state "billions," the report states.
This is an excerpt from Jeffrey St. Clair's new environmental history, Born Under a Bad Sky, now available from AK Press / CounterPunch Books.
This is the time of year we flatlanders pine for the snows of January, when it's a full 100 degrees colder than it is right now, and all the humidity is frozen to our windshields. August in Iowa may be unbearable for humans, but vegetables love it -- the hot, sticky dog days bring us sweet corn (different from the "field" corn that feeds confined hogs and ethanol plants), hot peppers, and the very first tomatoes. At this time of the year in Iowa City, you can shop at farmers markets every day of the week, if you pay attention to the schedules and know the locations.
Ah, us chicken hearts, 'fraid a little foot-and-mouth disease will get loose in the wilds of Far West San Antonio should the Feds decide to relocate and expand the Plum Island bio-defense facility at the Texas Research Park. [See "Banging the drum for Bio-defense," August 15, 2007.] Ambition should be made of sterner stuff, the Bard once said - and indeed 'tis among our Congressional delegation. Lone Star representatives
THURSDAY, Aug. 7 (HealthDay News) -- The vast majority of Americans are dissatisfied with the U.S. health care system, and 82 percent think it needs to be overhauled, a new survey found.
"There is a broad view by the public that our health care system needs a full overhaul, either to be totally rebuilt or reformed," said Cathy Schoen, senior vice president for research and evaluation at The Commonwealth Fund, which commissioned the survey.
Most people associate avocados with Mexico, California, and Florida, but there's a small thriving avocado business right here in Texas. Along with its famous grapefruits and oranges, the Lower Rio Grande Valley is home not only to myriad backyard avocado trees but to a number of commercial enterprises, as well.
