Global warming drives Alps town to shut ski area

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Saturday July 21, 2007 · 11:43 PM PDT

2007/07/21 · 23:43

Harbinger of things to come (or go, as is the case here):

MSNBC is reporting that climate change has forced the Alps ski resort town of Abondance, France, to shut down its ski operations and climate change experts warn that other resorts will follow:

BONDANCE, France - Muddy slopes, slushy peaks, unused lifts — this town in the French Alps is living out the nightmare of many a ski resort in a century scientists say is doomed to keep getting warmer.

The city council of Abondance — its name a cruel reminder of the generous snowfall it once enjoyed — voted last month 9-6 to shut down the ski area that has been its economic raison d'etre for more than 40 years. The reason: not enough snow.

Abondance is the French Alps' first ski station to fall apparent victim to global warming. It will almost certainly not be the last.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/...

More global meltdowns below the fold...

jhritz

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday July 19, 2007 · 9:10 AM PDT

2007/07/19 · 09:10

Amidst all the controversy about Bill O'Reilly's excoriation of Daily Kos (via the cherry picking of comments and quotes from diarists who number ~.0004 percent of the total DKos user population), I find myself wondering why, as a consistent diarist on Daily Kos, he would hate me.

I say this because he didn't say: such-and-such a SPECIFIC user on the OPEN FORUM blog known as Daily Kos writes: blah, blah, blah... And he couldn't say the MANAGEMENT OF Daily KOS said: blah, blah, blah (because they didn't).

He just said "Daily Kos" "blah, blah, blah..."

Well, I post diaries on Daily Kos and none of that "blah, blah blah" came from me.

So why does Bill O'Reilly hate me?

More on my O'Reilly (oh really?) confusion below the fold...

jhritz

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday July 17, 2007 · 3:44 AM PDT

2007/07/17 · 03:44

NBC ran a story last night about the drought conditions in the Inland Valley growing region of Southern California. The story opened with an auction of farm equipment by a third generation farmer pulling up stakes due to the fact that he could NOT afford to irrigate his farm after a record 1.93" of rainfall the past year -- which, as reporter George Lewis points out, is less than Death Valley's totals.

"Last year we harvested only half a crop and this year we did not even plant."

Mike Boris, California Farmer.

"California and the west, as well as portions of the southeast, are suffering through severe and extreme drought."

George Lewis, NBC

"We're pretty concerned that things are conspiring to give us a perfect drought out here, lasting not years, but maybe decades."

Glen Mac Donald, UCLA Geography Professor

More parched news below the fold...

jhritz

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday July 16, 2007 · 2:33 AM PDT

2007/07/16 · 02:33

Sometimes there's good news:

Jordanian and Israeli farmers have begun working together to introduce barn owls to Jordanian farms to replace dangerous pesticides that were poisoning the Jordanian environment:

For years, Ibrahim Alayyan watched in frustration as rats ravaged the date crop at his lush family farm. Having no luck with pesticides, the retired Jordanian heart surgeon was only too eager to try a pest control agent widely used in fields just across the Jordan River in Israel -- owls.

[snip]

In late 2002 Israeli farmers planned a regional conference on barn owls to explain their advantages to colleagues across the Jordan River. The response was discouraging. Many Arabs consider owls the same way others view black cats -- as bad luck.

Word came back to the Israelis that no Jordanians would attend. So the organizers changed the title of the conference to focus on organic farming, and two dozen Jordanians turned up. Midway through the gathering they were given a demonstration on owls...

http://tinyurl.com/...

More cooperation and a way to save an endangered US species below the fold.

jhritz

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday July 12, 2007 · 5:13 AM PDT

2007/07/12 · 05:13

The New York Times has published an analysis today of foods and goods uncovered and/or rejected by the FDA (that 'we inspect less than one percent' agency...) by country.

The winners?

India and Mexico:

At a time when Chinese imports are under fire for being contaminated or defective, federal records suggest that China is not the only country that has problems with its exports.

In fact, federal inspectors have stopped more food shipments from India and Mexico in the last year than they have from China, an analysis of data maintained by the Food and Drug Administration shows.

Stats, resources and links below the fold...

jhritz

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday July 10, 2007 · 1:23 AM PDT

2007/07/10 · 01:23

CNN is reporting that China just executed the former head of their food and drug safety administration for taking bribes. That's right. They executed him.

BEIJING, China (Reuters) -- China's former drug and food safety watchdog chief was executed on Tuesday after being found guilty of corruption and dereliction of duty amid a series of food and drug safety scandals, Xinhua news agency said.

The Supreme People's Court approved the death sentence against Zheng Xiaoyu, 62, who was convicted of taking bribes worth some 6.5 million yuan ($850,000) from eight companies.

http://www.cnn.com/...

That's not to say the safety problem with China's products has been solved.

In fact, according to this well researched Newsweek article, it's worse than we thought.

With that in mind, links and resources to safe and free trade products are below the fold...

jhritz for Daily Kos

Community

Monday July 09, 2007 · 8:21 AM PDT

2007/07/09 · 08:21

[Promoted from the Diaries - Meteor Blades]

Bush just invoked executive privilege to keep Sara Taylor and Harriet Miers from testifying before Congress in the US Attorney Scandal!

Bush uses privilege to deny ex-aides’ testimony
White House-Congress showdown over subpoenas escalates

BREAKING NEWS
Updated: 6 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - President Bush invoked executive privilege Monday to deny requests by Congress for testimony from former aides Sara Taylor and Harriet Miers on the White House's role in the firings of several U.S. attorneys.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/...

So, if he's invoked executive privilege for these two, will Rove, Libby, Cheney follow???

More below the fold...

jhritz

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Sunday July 08, 2007 · 4:56 AM PDT

2007/07/08 · 04:56

What do soft drinks, cigarettes and gasoline have in common? Benzene.

That's right. Cancer causing Benzene.

Soft drinks: Two the nation's largest soft drink manufacturers have just agreed to reformulate their soft drinks to exclude the known carcinogen Benzene, which forms when Ascorbic Acid and Sodium Benzoate (a preservative) combine in one product:

Safeway settles benzene soft drink suit

The supermarket market chain, Safeway Inc., has agreed to reformulate soft drinks made with ingredients that can potentially form benzene, according to a recent settlement. The company is one of several soft drink manufacturers that have recently been sued in class action lawsuits over benzene, a known carcinogen. Coca-Cola, a former defendant, agreed to settle last month.

Exposure to significant levels of benzene can lead to increased rates of bone marrow diseases, including leukemia.

http://tinyurl.com/...

The bad news? Not all companies are reformulating...

Cigarettes, gasoline and how to determine if you're drinking benzene below the fold...

jhritz

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday July 04, 2007 · 3:49 AM PDT

2007/07/04 · 03:49

A few weeks ago, after an entire mountain lake the size of ten (10) football fields in a Chilean National Park mysteriously disappeared and left behind a 130 foot crater, scientists scratched their heads as to the cause.

The likely culprit has now been identified: Climate Change.

Scientists on Tuesday blamed global warming for the disappearance of a glacial lake in remote southern Chile that faded away in just two months, leaving just a crater behind.

The disappearance of the lake in Bernardo O'Higgins National Park was discovered in late May by park rangers, who were stunned to find a 130-foot deep crater where a large lake had been.

After flying over the lake Monday scientists said they were able to draw preliminary conclusions that point to climate change as the leading culprit for the lake's disappearance.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/...

More disappearing bodies of water below the fold...

jhritz

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday July 02, 2007 · 5:34 PM PDT

2007/07/02 · 17:34

Ambassador Joe Wilson was just interviewed on Keith Olbermann's Countdown about the Libby ~~pardon~~ commutation.

Here's a quick transcription of the first part of an additional phone call from Wilson (added after the video interview):

Olbermann: Can you share the reaction you and your wife had upon hearing this news this evening?

Wilson: Well, on the one hand, there's nothing that this administration does that surprises me anymore. It's corrupt from top to bottom and I think most Americans should understand that beyond a reasonable doubt now. On the other hand, of course, as American citizens, we're outraged that the President of the United States would short circuit the rule of law and the system of justice and really just repudiate everything that we stand for as Americans, including the decision by a jury of Mr. Libby's peers, confirmed by the judge in the case and reconfirmed by the Court of Appeals.

More of the interview below the fold...

jhritz

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday June 27, 2007 · 4:47 PM PDT

2007/06/27 · 16:47

Today, ABC News reported that milk prices are expected to "soar" in the near future. The reasons?

Reduced supply of milk supplies due to the drought in Australia (a milk exporter)
Increased demand for milk in China, Canada and Mexico.
Increased cost of feeding US dairy cows (that corn for ethanol thingee)

Powdered dairy products are traded globally and supplies are down, Leibtag said. He pointed to two recent changes that have had an impact on the international supply of dried dairy products: the European Union recently ended subsidies for dairy production, which has resulted in a reduction in supplies, and worse, Australia -- the world's second largest exporter of dairy products after the United States -- has been suffering through a severe drought for the past several years.

It "couldn't produce as much as it used to and world markets are looking for other sources of dairy," [...] largely to the United States.

How soon until these prices start to soar? July 1st

More ways climate change does not build strong bones below...

jhritz

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday June 20, 2007 · 2:30 AM PDT

2007/06/20 · 02:30

Frontline's must-see latest documentary, ENDGAME (what when wrong, and why, in America's tragically failed effort to find a strategy for success in Iraq), shows how we got into the mess we're in, the shocking (even for the Bush Administration) level of incompetence and the lack of options we face now:

On Dec. 19, 2006, President George W. Bush said for the first time that the United States is not winning the war in Iraq. It was a dramatic admission from a president who had insisted since the start of the war that things were under control.

Now, as the U.S. begins what the administration hopes is the final effort to secure victory through a "surge" of troops, [snip] military and government officials talk to FRONTLINE about both the military and political events that have led up to the current "surge" strategy.

http://www.pbs.org/...

The fifth in a series on the Iraq war, this documentary casts a clear light on the mistakes made at the highest levels, both from a civilian and military point of view.

More below the fold...

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Global warming drives Alps town to shut ski area

Why Does Bill O'Reilly Hate Me?

Climate Change/Extreme Drought Cited in Calif. Farm Failures

Jordanian and Israeli farmers' hopes take wing

New Report: China Not the Only Source of Tainted Food

China's Deadly Response to Toxic Food Scandal

Bush Invokes Executive Privilege to Stop Testimony

Soft Drink-Cancer Link Lawsuit Settled (check product list)

Climate Change the Culprit in Missing Lake

Amb. Joe Wilson on Libby [transcript of phone call]

Got Milk? Got Money? (hint: you'll need both)

Frontline's Shocking Exposé of Iraq War Endgame Strategy