Global warming

Europe 2003 summer hottest in 500 years

The summer of 2003, when there were more than 19,000 deaths attributed to the heat, probably was the hottest in Europe in 500 years, according to an analysis of temperatures dating back to 1500.

Insurer warns of global warming catastrophe

The world’s second-largest reinsurer, Swiss Re, warned on Wednesday that the costs of natural disasters, aggravated by global warming, threatened to spiral out of control, forcing the human race into a catastrophe of its own making.

“There is a danger that human intervention will accelerate and intensify natural climate changes to such a point that it will become impossible to adapt our socio-economic systems in time,” Swiss Re said in the report.

Swiss Re, not exactly known for being environmental worrywarts, have been warning about this for some months. Too many environmental problems, and they will be out of business.
 
Glacier melt indicates global warming changes

The scientists discovered a key glacier at in the middle of the Southern Ocean is melting much faster than expected.

<A researcher> says it is an early warning sign of global warming changes.

The Bush Administration announced today global warming will be “a great impetus to the economy” as businesses in flooded coastal areas are forced to move inland, thus creating a massive boom in new construction. Plus, the President continued, boat construction will increase and there will be new water sports opportunities as valleys flood and become lakes.

When asked about the ramifications of flooded, once fertile valleys, not longer being able to be used to grow food, he said tax cuts for the wealthy will solve the problem.

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Billionaire Warren Buffet attacks Bush’s tax cuts

In a his annual letter to stockholders, legendary investor Warren Buffet blasted Bush

“Tax breaks for corporations (and their investors, particularly large ones) were a major part of the Administration’s 2002 and 2003 initiatives,” he wrote. “If class warfare is being waged in America, my class is clearly winning.”

The letter returned to previous themes on the inadequacy of corporate governance structures among U.S. companies and mutual funds.

“[If] Corporate America is serious about reforming itself, CEO pay remains the acid test,” Buffett said. “The results aren’t encouraging.”

Buffet is now massively short the dollar, this from someone who has never speculated on currencies before.

The trade deficit has him spooked. “In recent years our country’s trade deficit has been force-feeding huge amounts of claims on, and ownership in, America to the rest of the world,” he said. “Late in 2002, however, the world started choking on this diet, and the dollar’s value began to slide against major currencies.”

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FireFox and Thunderbird

Since I’ve started using the open source FireFox browser and Thunderbird email client rather than Internet Explorer and Outlook, Ad-Aware has found practically no spyware on my computers. With Outlook and IE, I was scanning for spyware every day and Ad-Aware usually found 5-15 new spywares. Today, I scanned both of my main computers for the first time in 5 days, and Ad-Aware found nothing.

I attribute this to Thunderbird and Firefox 1) defaulting to security on, rather than off as Microsoft does, 2) having better security options, and 3) not being targetted by viruses and spyware.

I’m also finding Thunderbird has a reasonably good spam filter plus a handy option where email from anyone in your address book is never considered to be spam.

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Oops

David Crosby arrested on gun, drug charges in NY

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