There is, from my perspective, a genuine air of unreality about British politics right now.

Rejoice if it is only right now!

As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."

It blew past me as well, and poemless would know better, since she's out in the Midwest where the local coverage is probably a lot better.  But I'm guessing the insane weather they've been having out there has wrought (yes, wrought) havoc on the rivers that Cedar Rapids and Des Moines are on.

Be nice to America. Or we'll bring democracy to your country.

AP via IHT: Thousands forced from homes by Iowa flooding (June 14, 2008)

in Des Moines, Iowa's largest city, a levee ruptured early Saturday and allowed the Des Moines River to pour into an area near downtown, and a mandatory evacuation was ordered for 270 homes, authorities said. Many residents of the area already had left after a voluntary evacuation request was issued Friday.

Des Moines city crews and National Guard used dump trucks and front-end loaders to build a temporary berm in a bid to stop the water, but by midmorning they had been ordered to abandon the work because officials expected the berm to also fail. That would leave hundreds of homes unprotected from flooding that had already surrounded the city's North High School.

"Things happened really fast," said Toby Hunvemuller of the Army Corps of Engineers. "We tried to figure out how high the level would go. Not enough time. We lost ground. We didn't want to risk life or harm anyone, and the decision was made to stop."

When the capital development of a country becomes a by-product of the activities of a casino, the job is likely to be ill-done. — John M. Keynes

Not so invisible... - this was on the rec list for the last few days.

Meanwhile in Des Moines.

Meteorologists have attributed this year's weather patterns to shifts in patterns of water temperatures in the east Pacific called La Nina, (pardon the missing tilla,) which have shifted the jet streams over the continental USA.  Relatively stable conditions with disastrous consequences will set up and remain in place for weeks at a time.  In the central USA this often involves the intersection of warm, moisture laden air from the Gulf of Mexico or from the Pacific coast of Mexico with a dipping jet stream accompanied by colder air.  Two air masses moving at different altitudes and in different directions constitute the conditions, (rotation), for thunderstorms, hail and tornadoes, the number of which is on track to set new records this year.

Solar heating sets up a diurnal storm pattern under these conditions.  We regularly see thunderstorms popping up towards the western edge of the plains, from Texas to the Dakotas, that them move eastward over the next 24-48 hours.  As the year has progressed we have seen the intersection point of the gulf air and the jet stream move north.  In February and March we had storms moving from Texas and Oklahoma to the east.  Now the points of origin seem to have shifted further north, from central Oklahoma to Nebraska.  In the absence of strong weather systems moving from the Gulf of Alaska east across the continent, the weather can become stuck in a pattern, with massive amounts of rain being dumped over the same areas day after day.

In March and April this pattern set up over Arkansas and left all of the Army Corps of Engineers' reservoirs in the Ozark watershed full.  As additional rain fell, water had to be released downstream.  This was as traumatic for the ACOE operators as it was damaging to communities and farm lands down stream.  Senior ACOE officials appeared before affected downstream communities with tears in their eyes to explain that they had no choice but to open the floodgates.

This was combined with the sad fact that poor counties in eastern Arkansas had dissolved levee boards in the '50s and 60s because of the expense and lack of perceived need.  The result was that the rich bottom lands along the Mississippi and some towns were flooded, and some may remain flooded.  This has prevented or delayed farmers from getting crops, especially rice, of which these lands are large producers, in the ground.  Soft red wheat, on the other hand, which is grown on higher ground, seems set for a banner year--if farmers can get the crop harvested.

Now this pattern has set up further north.  Compared to the Ozark water shed, there is less reservoir capacity in those areas.  A stable downpour occurred over parts of Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana last week.  This is being referred to as a "once in 500 year event."  My feeling is that prospectively such events might become once in 50 year events.  Global warming may increase the energy and possibly the capriciousness of these types of events.  

As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."

The National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library is flooded to the second floor.  

The National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library is internationally known for its permanent and changing exhibits featuring exquisite Czech and Slovak folk art and costumes, fine art, political history, maps and militaria. A visit includes a tour of a restored 1880 Czech immigrant home. In addition, a varied calendar of programs is offered each year. The library has an impressive collection of books and archival materials about Czech and Slovak history and culture.

Been there.  Impressive collection and display of Central European culture and history.  

No one could have predicted

Wow.  I really thought that was NOLA, but I recognize Mays Island in the middle.

Be nice to America. Or we'll bring democracy to your country.

Meanwhile, Bush's Great Iraq Adventure© has stripped the Midwest of the National Guard AND all their equipment.  They are a key element in emergency planning and response so emergency managers and supervisors are having to make it up as they go along, increasing response time to events.

Fool me twice...

When the capital development of a country becomes a by-product of the activities of a casino, the job is likely to be ill-done. — John M. Keynes

June 20th, you mean it's gonna get worse for a week !!

OMG.

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Ah, that's good.  Have to figure they've got perhaps a few hundred thousand people in the region who might volunteer.  And having that money machine working for it can't hurt.

June 20th, though.  Jesus.

Be nice to America. Or we'll bring democracy to your country.

No other ideas.  But I'm left thinking, "Damn, that was simple!"

Be nice to America. Or we'll bring democracy to your country.

I thought he made hard work of it. But Sweden deserved it. spain have really gone off the boil in the last 20 minutes.

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Not only they got denied a penalty but the referee didn't let them finish their last attacking play with the ball by Sweden's penalty area.


When the capital development of a country becomes a by-product of the activities of a casino, the job is likely to be ill-done. — John M. Keynes

So Greece are out, Spain through in first place and Russia and the Sweden have to fight it out possibly with penalties.

When the capital development of a country becomes a by-product of the activities of a casino, the job is likely to be ill-done. — John M. Keynes

I always have it on my list of required reading for new agers

If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.

Aaaaahh.  Perhaps that explains why I have started it several times but never gotten very far.

Somewhere in cyberspace, the ghost of de Chardin is smiling.

Well, I did read and enjoy it...

Un roi sans divertissement est un homme plein de misères

Am I really the only one who enjoyed it?

Wait this is important. Someone is wrong on the Internet.

Oh, I know that.  I probably have a dozen of O'Reilly's cookbooks laying around.  One or more of them is always in the pile, by definition within arm's reach.

Somewhere in cyberspace, the ghost of de Chardin is smiling.

Amazon.com: The Paper Economy: David T. Bazelon: Books

Review
The author argues that the American "economy is doing a poor job of allocating the nation's resources. Thus hunger and grain surpluses exist side by side, and education is pauperized while millions are invested in to redundant promotion of identical toothpastes and cosmetics."Saturday Review

Somewhere in cyberspace, the ghost of de Chardin is smiling.

Couple of places up, right under The Shock Doctrine, is Power in America by the same guy.  Somebody recommended one or the other, and I bought both when I had the chance.

Somewhere in cyberspace, the ghost of de Chardin is smiling.

Thank you.  I do not want to wear out my welcome.  Please, someone tell me if I'm overdoing this.

I think Webb is more populist than liberal, at least as the word seems to be used these days, but he is closer to where I think liberalism ought to be than many who claim the label for their own.  And he is not without his faults.

And the idea that he is a militarist I think goes right back to the two or three stereotypes that are always attached to Webb in the media.  Like most old soldiers, he is less likely to choose a military solution than almost anyone.  A theme he develops at length in A Time to Fight is his own evolution from a Marine platoon commander, arguably much closer to the stereotype, to a strategic analyst much more interested in finding longer term trajectories that do not require military action.

I could dig up a quote or two, but Webb is much like Al Gore in that regard.  One paragraph is never enough.  His ideas do not easily translate to a media sound bite or a lazy quote.

Somewhere in cyberspace, the ghost of de Chardin is smiling.

I too would like to hear more about this.

Caribbean currencies are often pegged to the dollar, but that opens up some interesting possibilities with Europe.  Actually, see the link (below) to Apparel News dot Net interesting developments concerning exports to the EU.

"Beware of the man who does not talk, and the dog that does not bark." Cheyenne

Maybe a link after the paper has been presented?

No one could have predicted

The news is very recent and that number is from a well connected colleague that works for an organization that operates out of Washington DC and promotes investment in Latin America and the Caribbean.  He gave me the number after a meeting with apparel producers and shippers.  I found it astounding as well, but the reputable Lehrer Newshour had a small item last week that said Mexico could return to be an export platform to the US because high transport costs were making China less attractive.  The scoop is at Apparel News Dot Net.  Also check http://www.apparelandfootwear.org

Do I get a commission?
:)

"Beware of the man who does not talk, and the dog that does not bark." Cheyenne

Add to that the fact that we can now use Mexican fabrics.


"Beware of the man who does not talk, and the dog that does not bark." Cheyenne

Observer - Government criticised as second batch of top secret documents found on train

The government is facing fresh criticism today over another embarrassing lapse in security after a second batch of secret official files were found left on a train.

The papers, which cover the UK's policies on fighting global terrorist funding, drugs trafficking and money laundering were handed to The Independent on Sunday.

This latest blunder has prompted calls for civil servants to be banned from taking confidential documents out of their offices.

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Observer - Suddenly, Labour is not laughing at David Davis

Gordon Brown thought his luck had changed when the shadow home secretary said he was resigning over 42-day detention. Conservatives, by contrast, thought he had gone mad. Yet to judge from the emails sent by Tory activists, Labour voters and people who had never given a thought to politics, the MP for Haltemprice and Howden may be on to something, writes political editor Gaby Hinsliff

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Observer - EU tries to isolate Irish after treaty rejection

Germany and France moved to isolate Ireland in the European Union yesterday, scrambling for ways to resuscitate the Lisbon Treaty a day after the Irish dealt the architects of the EU's new regime a crushing blow.

Refusing to take Ireland's 'no' for an answer, politicians in Berlin and Paris prepared for a crucial EU summit in Brussels this week by trying to ringfence the Irish while demanding that the treaty be ratified by the rest of the EU.

The scene is now set for a major clash between the Irish and their European partners after a Dublin minister and sources in the ruling Fianna Fail party ruled out any chance of a second Irish referendum on the treaty.

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Observer - New homes slump worst since 1945

The number of homes built in Britain this year will plunge to its lowest level since 1945 and plummeting construction activity is expected to lead to the loss of 100,000 jobs. The country's most senior housebuilders confirm that completions will be around 100,000, some 70,000 less than last year.

The dramatic collapse will shred any hopes Gordon Brown may have had for a rapid acceleration in housebuilding, which was to have been a central plank of his premiership. Brown wants 240,000 homes built each year to house the 3 million new households expected by 2018.

Mark Clare, chief executive of crisis-hit developer Barratt, said: 'The small guys have pulled out and the big companies ... are not opening new developments. I think it certainly will be around 100,000, and if there's a further deterioration, it will go under 100,000.'

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Observer - Larry Elliot - The Economy : It's gone to meet its maker. It is no more

When he was chancellor, Brown's pitch to the electorate had been the man of prudence and probity, the equivalent of the solid shopkeeper who would never sell his customers shoddy goods.

Today the situation is somewhat different, with the voters - in the immortal words of Monty Python - registering a complaint and ministers seeking to reassure, loudly but unconvincingly, that the parrot is not quite dead but is just resting.

There is much talk from Alistair Darling about how the economy is better placed than those of other countries to withstand the global downturn ("the Norwegian Blue prefers kipping on its back"), and that there are parts of Britain - away from the financial sector and the housing market - that are still doing well (Remarkable bird, the Norwegian Blue, beautiful plumage).

As far as the voters are concerned, the plumage don't enter into it. They seem utterly unmoved by the idea that Britain is, by all accounts, envied as a bastion of creativity when their homes are dropping in value and their real incomes are being squeezed. Rather like the angry customer in the pet shop, they have taken a closer look at the parrot and decided that the only reason it stood on the perch for so long was that the government nailed it there with both public and private debt

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Observer - City investors vent anger after regulator clamps down on short sellers

City firms last night reacted angrily to a clampdown by the main financial watchdog on the lucrative practice of short selling shares on the London market. The move followed accusations that traders were seeking to profit from the destruction of some of Britain's best-known companies.

Hedge funds, law firms and some investment houses accused the Financial Services Authority (FSA) of making sweeping and long-lasting changes to the City rulebook to shore up the short-term finances of a group of beleaguered banks and house builders.

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Observer - Mugabe: if I lose the poll, we will wage war

A defiant President Robert Mugabe yesterday vowed he would 'go to war' if he lost the presidential run-off due to take place in less than two weeks.

Describing the opposition as 'traitors', he claimed Zimbabwe would never 'be lost' again. Speaking at the burial of a veteran of the independence war, Mugabe said he would never accept the Movement for Democratic Change taking over. 'It shall never happen ... as long as I am alive and those who fought for the country are alive,' he said. 'We are prepared to fight for our country and to go to war for it.'

The threat was seen as an angry response to the pressure mounting on the government from other African leaders over the regime's harassment of the MDC leadership and supporters in the run up to the 27 June election.

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Observer - EU chief offers Iran new deal as nuclear sanctions loom

Frantic diplomatic negotiations took place in Tehran yesterday as Iran weighed up a package of trade inducements offered by world powers in exchange for the abandonment of its uranium enrichment programme.

European foreign policy chief Javier Solana arrived in Tehran with the offer of the last-ditch deal on behalf of Britain, the US, Germany, Russia, France and China. Tehran is being given a month to agree to suspend enrichment of uranium in exchange for economic, technological and political incentives or face further punitive measures, including the prospect of unilateral sanctions by the EU.

Almost as soon as Solana arrived, a senior Iranian government spokesman insisted that the suspension of Iranian enrichment demanded as part of the deal was not 'debatable'. 'Iran's stance is clear. The precondition of a halt and suspension of nuclear activities cannot be brought up,' said Gholam Hossein Elham.

Several hours later a second government official offered a cautiously optimistic account of the talks saying that they had opened 'a new diplomatic path' in the efforts to resolve the long-running nuclear dispute

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Observer - We won't be Berlusconi's scapegoats, say Gypsies

In a desolate field just beyond the Rome ring road, a single line of caravans is a stark sign of the times in the new and increasingly anti-immigrant Italy. The vehicles are the modest homes of 25 Gypsy families, who have become the first victims of a campaign waged by the city's new right-wing mayor to crack down on foreign criminals and illegal Gypsy camps

'We work for a living, but in a couple of hours, everything we had created, the relationship we had built with locals over decades, was wiped out,' said Alessandro, 36.

The eviction, against the advice of Rome's police chief, was the latest sign of the disturbing groundswell of resentment building across Italy against the 150,000-strong Roma population. In Naples, a camp was recently firebombed. Near Venice, well supported demonstrations have mobilised locals against a proposed new camp agreed by the council. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's promise to get tough on the perceived lawlessness of Gypsies and foreigners earns him huge approval ratings and gives the green light to right-wing allies, such as Rome's mayor, Gianni Alemanno, to take drastic action.

Marking the first such demonstration in Italy, the protesters wore the same black triangle bearing the letter Z as worn by Gypsy inmates at the camps. 'We don't want to be scapegoats,' said Roma singer and academic Santo Spinelli, who helped organise the march. 'Italians are not racist, but we must put an end to the misinformation, mystification and media violence in this country.'

Such sentiments cut little ice with the likes of the mayor. The fact that many of those targeted are Italian citizens also appears to offer little protection. Alessandro, like the rest of the Gypsy group, was born in Italy and carries an Italian passport. Not surprisingly, he is furious. 'I did my military service, I vote and I would like a few rights,' he said.

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Observer - US elections: Evangelical flock strays from the Republican fold

Standing in a cavernous hall in the headquarters of the evangelical group Focus on the Family, Lisa Anderson has some bad news for John McCain. 'This is going to be an interesting election,' she said with a smile.

The phrase conveys a stark warning to the Republican candidate. Focus on the Family, where Anderson is a director, is one of the most powerful evangelical groups in America. Many of its supporters - and millions of other US evangelicals - helped elect George W Bush twice, giving him their votes and volunteering for his campaign. McCain, who desperately needs their votes, would like them to support him, too. But many evangelicals neither trust nor like McCain.

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Telegraph - Earthquake kills six in northern Japan

The 7.2 magnitude quake caused huge landslides that blocked roads across Iwate, a picturesque - but relatively unpopulated - area 190 miles north of Tokyo. In the capital itself buildings trembled but there were no reports of damage.

The government sent almost 800 soldiers to the area to assist with the recovery efforts. "The top priority is to save lives," said Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda. "We're doing our best in rescue operations."

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Observer - Anglican church's first gay 'wedding'

The first gay "marriage" has been carried out in an Anglican church between two priests, it has been reported today.

The Rev Peter Cowell and the Rev Dr David Lord exchanged vows at St Bartholomew the Great in the City of London last month.

Although some clergy have carried out blessings for civil ceremonies before, this is the first time the traditional wedding marriage service has been held for a same sex couple, the Sunday Telegraph reported.
..................

The news will renew the bitter debate among Anglicans over the issues of gay priests and homosexual marriage.

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Observer -

But in 21st-century Britain, a minority that refuses to commune with the rest of society cannot hide from politics. Gordon Brown wants to promote public expressions of 'Britishness'. New arrivals will be expected to avow their loyalty, while established Britons will wave flags and hug each other on a new public holiday.

As a rule, policy only exists as a solution to a problem. In this case, the problem is a lack of what wonks and Whitehall call 'integration and social cohesion'. That deficit was brought to the government's attention by opinion polls that consistently show voters unhappy about high levels of immigration, and by the 7 July bombings, which showed how members of one community were so alienated from Britain as to be capable of treason. Since then, promoting 'integration' has become the shared aspiration of all mainstream parties. It is one of those lazy virtues that are easy to promote because no one in their right mind stands for the opposite. Who has a manifesto calling for disintegration?

The Haredim pose an interesting challenge to this tidy consensus. If separateness in Muslims and immigrant communities is bad because it leads to crime and disorder, would it be fine as long as the ghetto was trouble-free? If people obey the law, why should they integrate and, if they must, with whom? Rich and poor Britons don't mix socially. They don't even drink in the same pubs.

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Observer - Bush warns Brown over plan to cut Iraq force

George Bush flies into London today with a warning for Gordon Brown not to announce a timetable for a British pull-out from Iraq, and expressing deep scepticism about the Prime Minister's high-profile strategy for bringing down world oil prices.

Asked what he thinks his legacy might be, he says he is happy to await the verdict of history. But he cannot resist also offering his own, suggesting 'the liberation of 50 million people from the clutches of barbaric regimes is noteworthy, at a minimum'

Asked in the Rome interview about popular opposition in Britain to the war and his presidency, he replied: 'Do I care? Only to the extent that it affects people's view of the citizens I represent. Do I care about my personal standing? Not really.'

He remained, he said, convinced that Iraq, and the world, was a better place without Saddam Hussein. And he said that while 'Presidents don't get to do re-dos' on issues such as Saddam's lack of weapons of mass destruction, there was one lesson from the run-up to the Iraq war that he felt was hugely relevant to the standoff in Iran.

'We didn't realise, nor did anyone else,' Bush said, 'that Saddam Hussein felt like he needed to play like he had weapons of mass destruction. It may have been, however, that in his mind all this was just a bluff ... that the world wasn't serious.'

About this articleClose This article appeared in the Observer on Sunday June 15 2008 on p30 of the World news section. It was last updated at 01:09 on June 15 2008.

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Helsinki's waste water has been tested for cocaine. The tests indicate one line a day per thousand inhabitants, or 22 kilos for the city annually.

It's 10 times as much in Paris and 120 times in New York.

You can't be me, I'm taken

I haven't got front page rights so it has to be here. Can somebody who does copy this lot over please cos I'm buggered if I know how.

Please add as my list of search items is much more restricted than Glorious Fran.

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Thank you very much for this excellent work, Helen!

And thank you, Fran, as always!  You are personally indispensable in this community for much more than the salon.

Our knowledge has surpassed our wisdom. -Charu Saxena.

My goodness you've been busy this morning.  Err, morning where I am anyway.

Somewhere in cyberspace, the ghost of de Chardin is smiling.

Hi Helen, just saw what a great job you did - thank you! I didn't see it when I activated the Salon and ran off again. :-)