Bridgewater official under investigation for alleged financial misconduct

BRIDGEWATER -- The chairman of the town's Board of Finance has resigned from the board in the wake of reports he has been fired from his place of employment and is under investigation for alleged possible misdeeds.

Gregory Buchholz was terminated two weeks ago from his investment adviser position with Raymond James Financial Services Inc. in Southbury, a company spokesman, Anthea Penrose, said Tuesday.

According to the spokesman, Buchholz was fired after the company learned he was under investigation for alleged misappropriation of investors' funds.

Penrose said the financial firm was contacted by authorities about the investigation, and it terminated Buchholz's employment.

The company closed its Southbury branch office, where Buchholz had worked.

Penrose would not say how much money may have been misappropriated.

A publicly traded company, Raymond James Financial Services is regulated by the Federal Commerce Commission. The investigation is being conducted on a local and federal level, Penrose said.

"Raymond James confirms a former ... financial services adviser, Gregory Buchholz, is being investigated for allegedly misappropriating client funds. The firm ... is cooperating fully with authorities in the investigation of this matter," a prepared statement by the company reads.

Calls to Buchholz's home Tuesday were not returned.

Bridgewater First Selectman Bill Stuart said he was stunned by the allegations.

"I just can't believe it," Stuart said. "When this happens with someone who has been on one of your boards for a long time and who's done a good job, it's hard to believe."

Stuart said Buchholz came to Town Hall on Tuesday morning and told him he would be resigning from the finance board and also from theBridgewater Board of Trustees, of which Buchholz was vice chairman.

Buchholz served on the finance board since 2001 and was appointed to the Board of Trustees in 2007.

"The last thing people ought to be doing is speculating on matters yet to be proven," said Ned Bandler, chairman of the Board of Trustees.

"I've worked closely with George," Bandler said. "He has been a valued colleague, a strong contributor in the work of managing the town's trust funds."

Bandler said Buchholz did not manage any money for the board.

The present allegations of mismanagement of funds are not the first to be made against Buchholz.

In February 1999, the state Department of Banking's Securities and Business Investments Division issued a consent order, restricting Buchholz's work as a financial agent.

It required Raymond James Financial Services to give prior approval to any trades Buchholz made with clients' mutual funds, according to a department securities bulletin.

The consent order was based on allegations that while he was associated with Edward D. Jones & Co., Buchholz "engaged in unsuitable investment strategies with respect to certain mutual fund transactions," the bulletin says.

Contact Susan Tuz

at stuz@newstimes.com

or 860-355-7322.

Read more...

Given Money, Schools Wait on Rehiring Teachers

As schools handed out pink slips to teachers this spring, states made a beeline to Washington to plead for money for their ravaged education budgets. But now that the federal government has come through with $10 billion, some of the nation’s biggest school districts are balking at using their share of the money to hire teachers right away.

With the economic outlook weakening, they argue that big deficits are looming for the next academic year and that they need to preserve the funds to prevent future layoffs. Los Angeles, for example, is projecting a $280 million budget shortfall next year that could threaten more jobs.

“You’ve got this herculean task to deal with next year’s deficit,” said Lydia L. Ramos, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Unified School District, the nation’s second-largest after New York City.

“So if there’s a way that you can lessen the blow for next year,” she said, “we feel like it would be responsible to try to do that.”

The district laid off 682 teachers and counselors and about 2,000 support workers this spring and was not sure it 

would be able to hire any of them back with the stimulus money. The district says it could be forced to cut 4,500 more people next year.

In New York City, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg committed to no teacher layoffs this year in exchange for not offering raises. A spokeswoman said the city’s budget had already taken the federal aid into account.

In New Jersey, where about 3,000 teachers were let go in May, Gov.Chris Christie’s administration worries that the federal aid will only forestall difficult decisions later, and it is unclear how much will be spent immediately.

“It’s a real double-edged sword,” said Michael Drewniak, a spokesman for the governor. “This money will not be there next year, and we’re not going to get back up to the funding that they had previously been used to.”

A $26 billion federal aid package, signed by President Obama on Aug. 10, allocates $10 billion for school districts to retain or rehire teachers, counselors, classroom aides, cafeteria workers, bus drivers and others — with the remainder of the money directed toward health care for the poor, emergency personnel and other state purposes.

The education measure requires states to distribute the money for the current school year, but allows school districts to spend it as late as September 2012. It also allows schools to roll back furlough days. The education department estimates it could salvage about 160,000 jobs.

“We can’t stand by and do nothing while pink slips are given to the men and women who educate our children or keep our communities safe,” President Obama said last week. “That doesn’t make sense.”

Though preserving jobs will be good for the economy, it will disappoint out-of-work teachers and parents who have been expecting a surge in rehiring. Many districts, like Kansas City, Kan., face the likelihood of midyear cuts, and administrators will count themselves lucky to save jobs. In the nation’s fifth-largest district in Clark County in Las Vegas, administrators are eager to hire some teachers, though they wonder what they will do when the federal money runs out.

“We’re a little wary about hiring people if we only have money for a year, but we know that’s the intent of this bill,” said Jeff Weiler, chief financial officer for Clark County schools.

In Texas, Republican Gov. Rick Perry so far has rejected the new federal education dollars. Should he relent, Houston’s superintendent, Terry B. Grier, proposes to use $40 million to $70 million of it to extend the school day and year, and to hire tutors. He does not plan to rehire 414 people — including quite a few certified teachers — laid off from the central office staff.

“We can’t treat this money as if it’s a supplement to a jobs bill,” Mr. Grier said. “I want to put people to work to help children.”

Still other obstacles loom for districts, not the least of which is timing. School has resumed in many districts in struggling states, including Arizona, California and Illinois. Assigning new teachers and juggling classrooms could disrupt students. In California, the budget picture is further clouded by the state’s failure to pass its own budget for the coming year.

Even administrators in districts that start school after Labor Day have only weeks to rearrange class rosters. And with classes largely set in many places, they might more quickly deploy the money by hiring support personnel, like those tutors in Houston.

In Arizona, where most schools opened this month, nonteaching employees are more likely to be recalled. “It would be hard to add teachers this year,” said Paul Senseman, a spokesman for Gov. Jan Brewer. “But the funds could be used on any school-level position like counselors, after-school programs, aides, nurses or coaches.”

Teachers’ unions are strongly urging districts to use the money right away to keep class sizes manageable and to reduce the jobless rolls. “The intent is to help districts avert layoffs now,” said Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers. “Kids don’t have a pause button.”

Read more...

G.M. Chief Stepping Down After Report of Strong Quarter

DETROIT — In a surprise development, General Motors’ chairman and chief executive, Edward E. Whitacre Jr., announced Thursday that he would step down as chief executive on Sept. 1 and be succeeded by Daniel F. Akerson, a G.M. board member and a managing director of the Carlyle Group.Mr. Whitacre, 68, said he would stay on as chairman until the end of the year, when Mr. Akerson would assume that role as well.

“I believe we’ve accomplished what we set out to do,” Mr. Whitacre said. “We’re going to have a smooth seamless transition here.”

Mr. Akerson, 61, will become the fourth chief executive at the nation’s largest automaker in less than two years. Rick Wagoner, who had been chief executive since 2000 and chairman since 2003, was asked to resign in March 2009 by President Obama’s automotive task force. He was followed by another long-time G.M. executive, Fritz Henderson, who led the company through its bankruptcy restructuring but was then replaced in November by Mr. Whitacre.

The announcement came shortly after General Motors reported that it earned $1.3 billion in the second quarter and cited sustained progress in rebuilding operations after emerging from its government-sponsored bankruptcy last year.

Mr. Whitacre, a former chief of AT&T who came out of retirement to lead G.M., had previously said he would leave once the company stabilized its finances. But the timing of his announcement was unexpected, as was the choice of Mr. Akerson, a former chairman of Nextel Communications, as his successor.

Mr. Akerson said on a conference call that he did not anticipate major changes in strategy when he takes over. “We share a common vision for the goals and objectives of this company,” he said.

He is currently a managing director at the Carlyle Group, the giant private equity firm, where he is a senior executive of its buyout business. Before joining Carlyle, Mr. Akerson was a longtime telecommunications executive, having worked as chief financial officer at MCI and as the chairman and chief executive of XO Communications, where he supervised a turnaround of the company.

“We still have important work ahead of us,” Mr. Akerson said, “but I am confident that we are building the foundation for G.M.’s long-term success.”

Mr. Whitacre came to G.M. claiming to know little about automobiles and describing himself as “not a car guy.” But he made himself a public face for the company by appearing in several ad campaigns highlighting the quality of G.M.’s vehicles. He was criticized by some members of Congress for an ad in which he claimed that G.M. had repaid its government loans “in full,” even though the payment represented only a portion of the taxpayer money invested in G.M.

Under Mr. Whitacre, G.M. increased its market share in the United States and the average amount that buyers paid for vehicles, two big contributors to this year’s profits. He shuffled executives several times until he created a lineup of managers that he felt was best-suited to lead the turnaround.

He also pushed G.M. to simplify its operations and focus on his oft-repeated mantra: “Design, build, and sell the world’s best vehicles.” Anything that did not directly contribute to that goal “is dead now, or it’s on its way out,” he said on multiple occasions.

Mr. Whitacre, like his successor, came from a telecommunications background. An engineer who joined Southwestern Bell in 1963, he worked his way up to become the company’s chief executive in 1990. Mr. Whitacre then transformed the company into SBC Communications, and went on an acquisitions spree that included buying AT&T in 2005, with the company assuming its name. He retired in 2007, and was then chosen by the auto task force two years later to lead G.M.’s restructuring.

The quarterly profit reported on Thursday marked G.M.’s strongest financial performance since 2004, and set the stage for the automaker to file for an initial public offering, possible as soon as Friday. It was G.M.’s second consecutive quarterly profit.

The automaker’s results were a marked improvement over the $865 million profit in the first quarter. Revenue also rose in the quarter, to $33.2 billion, from $31.5 billion in the first. G.M. did not report second-quarter results a year ago because it spend part of the period reorganizing under bankruptcy protection.

The second-quarter profit was driven by strong results in G.M.’s core North American business, which had lost money for several years leading up to its bankruptcy filing.

G.M. said it had earnings before interest and taxes of $1.6 billion in North America during the quarter, a 33 percent improvement over its first quarter performance. The company’s European unit lost $200 million in the quarter, and its other international operations earned $700 million.

Read more...

Judge Allows, but Delays, Gay Marriage in California

SAN FRANCISCO — Same-sex marriage is legal again in California. Sort of.Eight days after ruling thatProposition 8 — a 2008 voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage — was unconstitutional, a federal judge on Thursday denied a motion to stay his decision, opening the door for untold numbers of gay and lesbian couples to wed in the nation’s most populous state. But the judge delayed the effective date of his order until Wednesday.

Vaughn R. Walker, the chief judge of Federal District Court in San Francisco, issued a temporary stay last week when he invalidated Proposition 8, in order to allow arguments for and against same-sex ceremonies being performed while supporters of the ban appealed.

On Thursday, Judge Walker declined to extend that stay, but built in the delay to allow the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, where the case has been appealed by proponents of Proposition 8, time to consider the matter.

In the ruling, the judge wrote, “The evidence presented at trial and the position of representatives of the state of California show that an injunction against enforcement of Proposition 8 is in the public’s interest.”

News of the ruling set off a joyous eruption at San Francisco City Hall, where several dozen gay couples had lined up outside the county clerk’s office in hopes of getting marriage licenses and a large crowd of supporters had slowly built on the City Hall steps during the morning. Several ministers had arrived to perform ceremonies and rainbow flags were being waved. But that mood soon turned to disappointment as couples realized that same-sex ceremonies would still be delayed.

One couple — Adrian Molina, an artist for Pixar, and Ryan Dooley, a Latin teacher, both 24 — were among those feeling mixed emotions.

“We’re excited, but we’re also sad,” said Mr. Dooley, who said he wanted to marry as soon as possible. “At least we’ll have a little more time to prepare and dress up.”

Supporters of Proposition 8 were confident, arguing that they would win in the long run, which is likely to be before the United States Supreme Court. Jim Campbell, a lawyer for the Alliance Defense Fund, which had helped defend Proposition 8, said that “the right of Americans to protect marriage in their state constitutions will ultimately be upheld.”

“It makes no sense to impose a radical change in marriage on the people of California before all appeals on their behalf are heard,” Mr. Campbell said in a statement. “If the trial court’s decision is eventually reversed, refusing to stay the decision will senselessly create legal uncertainty surrounding any same-sex unions entered while the appeal is pending.”

Opponents of Proposition 8 expressed hope that gay men and lesbians would soon have the same marriage rights as opposite-sex couples.

“It would be delightful to have marriages resuming this afternoon, but it is understandable why Judge Walker would want the Ninth Circuit to have an opportunity to review,” said Kate Kendell, executive director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights. “We look forward to the resumption of marriages next week, not only based on principles of equality and fairness, but as affirmations of love and basic humanity.”

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, who had asked the court to lift the stay, said that he was pleased with the decision. “Today’s ruling continues to place California at the forefront in providing freedom and equality for all people,” he said in a statement. Any decision from the appellate court would come from a three-judge panel.

If it holds, Thursday’s ruling will make California the sixth state to allow same-sex marriage, joining Iowa, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Vermont, Connecticut and the District of Columbia. California briefly allowed such ceremonies in 2008 after a decision by the State Supreme Court struck down two laws that had limited marriage to opposite-sex partners. Over the next five months, some 18,000 gay couples wed.

In November 2008, however, California voters passed Proposition 8 by 52 percent, amending the State Constitution to establish marriage as only between a man and a woman. The ballot measure was challenged in state court, but in May 2009 it was upheld, though the State Supreme Court allowed the 18,000 same-sex marriages to stand.

Shortly after that, two gay couples filed a federal challenge — the case settled by Judge Walker, who agreed with their argument that Proposition 8 violated their constitutional rights to equal protection and due process. “Proposition 8 fails to advance any rational basis in singling out gay men and lesbians for denial of a marriage license,” Judge Walker wrote in his opinion, issued Aug. 4.

Supporters of Proposition 8 denounced Judge Walker’s reasoning, saying that it defied the will of the voters of California.

For many gay couples, the possibility of marriage, even while delayed, seemed tantalizingly close. Roger Hunt, 52, and Rod Wood, 56, were the first in line outside the clerk’s office at City Hall here on Thursday.

A couple for the last seven and a half years, the two men said the time had come to tie the knot, buying a pair of inexpensive stainless steel wedding rings until they can get something fancier.

“I’ve wanted to get married for a while now,” said Mr. Wood, who works for a publishing company. “There was a window, and we missed it. I did not want that to happen again.”

Malia Wollan contributed reporting.

Read more...

India Faces Intifada-Like Revolt in Kashmir

SRINAGAR, Kashmir — Late Sunday night, after six days on life support with a bullet in his brain, Fida Nabi, a 19-year-old high school student, was unhooked from his ventilator at a hospital here. He was the 50th person to die in Kashmir’s bloody summer of rage. He had been shot in the head, his family and witnesses said, during a protest against India’s military presence in this disputed province.

For decades, India maintained hundreds of thousands of security forces in Kashmir to fight an insurgency sponsored by Pakistan, which claims this border region, too. The insurgency has been largely vanquished. But those Indian forces are still here, and today they face a threat potentially more dangerous to the world’s largest democracy — an intifada-like popular revolt against Indian rule that includes not just angry young men but their sisters, mothers, uncles and grandparents.

The protests — which have erupted for a third straight summer — have led India to one of its most serious internal crises in recent memory. Not just because of their ferocity and persistence, but because they signal the failure of decades of Indian efforts to win the assent of Kashmiris using just about any tool available — money, elections and overwhelming force.

“We need a complete revisit of what our policies in Kashmir have been,” said Amitabh Mattoo, a professor of strategic affairs at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi and a Kashmiri Hindu. “It is not about money — you have spent huge amounts of money. It is not about fair elections. It is about reaching out to a generation of Kashmiris who think India is a huge monster represented by bunkers and security forces.”

Indeed, Kashmir’s demand for self-determination is sharper today than it has been at perhaps any other time in the region’s troubled history. It comes as — and in part because — diplomatic efforts remain frozen to resolve the dispute created more than 60 years ago with the partition of mostly Hindu India and Muslim Pakistan. Today each nation controls part of Kashmir, whose population is mostly Muslim.

Secret negotiations in 2007, which came close to creating an autonomous region shared by the two countries, foundered as Pervez Musharraf, then Pakistan’s president, lost his grip on power. The terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India’s financial capital, by Pakistani militants in November 2008 derailed any hope for further talks.

Not least, India has consistently rebuffed any attempt at outside mediation or diplomatic entreaties, including efforts by the United States. The intransigence has left Kashmiris empty-handed and American officials with little to offer Pakistan on its central preoccupation — India and Kashmir — as they struggle to encourage Pakistani cooperation in cracking down on the Taliban and other militant networks in the country.

With no apparent avenue to progress, many Kashmiris are despairing that their struggle is taking place in a vacuum, and they are taking matters into their own hands.

“What we are seeing today is the complete rebound effect of 20 years of oppression,” said Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, the chief cleric at Srinagar’s main mosque and a moderate separatist leader. Kashmiris, he said, are “angry, humiliated and willing to face death.”

This summer alone there have been nearly 900 clashes between protesters and security forces, which have left more than 50 civilians dead, most of them from gunshot wounds. While more than 1,200 soldiers have been injured by rock-throwing crowds, not one has been killed in the unrest, leading to questions about why Indian security forces are using deadly force against unarmed civilians — and why there is so little international outcry.

“The world is silent when Kashmiris die in the streets,” said Altaf Ahmed, a 31-year-old schoolteacher.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh made an emotional appeal for peace in Kashmir.

“I can feel the pain and understand the frustration that is bringing young people out into the streets of Kashmir,” the prime minister said in a televised speech. “Many of them have seen nothing but violence and conflict in their lives and have been scarred by suffering.”

Indeed, there is a palpable sense of opportunities squandered. Despite the protests of recent years, the Kashmir Valley had in the past few years been enjoying a season of peace.

The insurgency of the 1990s has mostly dried up, and elections in 2008 drew the highest percentage of voters in a generation. High expectations met the new chief minister, Omar Abdullah, a scion of Kashmir’s leading political family, whose fresh face seemed well suited to bringing better government and prosperity to Kashmir.

But election promises, like repealing laws that largely shield security forces from scrutiny and demilitarizing the state, went unfulfilled. After two summers of violent protests on specific grievances, this summer’s unrest has taken on a new character, one more difficult to define and mollify.

Read more...

Hurricane Alex Spawns Tornadoes; Could've Been Stronger

Your Ad Here

Now downgraded to a tropical storm, Alex grew fast in run-up to landfall.

Willie Drye

for National Geographic News

Published July 1, 2010

Eventually spawning tornadoes and killing at least three people, a strengthening Hurricane Alex came ashore Wednesday night in northern Mexico.
Hurricane Alex, however, did not push spilled oil from the Deepwater Horizon disaster beyond the coastlines along the Gulf of Mexico, as had been feared. (See "Hurricane Could Push Spilled Gulf Oil Into New Orleans.")
And, once over land, the hurricane rapidly weakened and was downgraded to tropical storm Alex.
Hurricane Alex made landfall around 9 p.m. CT at the village of Soto La Marina, about a hundred miles (160 kilometers) south of Brownsville, Texas. (See Gulf of Mexico map.)
Flash flooding had been reported where the storm came ashore, said William Wagner III, president of Early Alert, a private emergency management consulting firm in Palm City, Florida.
"We got reports that a lot of fishing villages were hit pretty hard," Wagner said.
(Pictures: "Hurricane Alex Pushes Oil on 'Cleaned' Beaches.")

Hurricane Alex Could Have Been Much Stronger
Hurricane Alex's hundred-mile-an-hour (160-kilometer-an-hour) winds made it a Category 2 hurricane at landfall.
But the storm could have easily become much stronger, based on Alex's barometric pressure readings, said Jim Campbell, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Brownsville.
Barometric pressure—the force created by the weight of air—is an indicator of a storm's intensity, because the strong thunderstorms created by tropical storms decrease air pressure around the center of the storm. As the storm strengthens, the barometric pressure becomes lower, and winds accelerate.
Hurricane Katrina, for example, had a barometric pressure reading of 923 millibars when it made landfall in August 2005. Alex's barometric pressure at landfall was 947 millibars—the lowest for a June hurricane since 1957.
Also, radar showed that, just before landfall, Hurricane Alex was starting to gain momentum and intensify over very warm water, which is fuel for hurricanes, Campbell said. But making landfall caused the storm to become disorganized and weaken before its winds could become stronger.
"Just think what could have happened if it had had another hundred miles or so of water before it came ashore," Campbell said.
(See "Hurricane Season May Be 'Extremely Active.'")
Alex Unleashes Tornadoes
Alex spurred several tornadoes in Brownsville, including one that blew a tractor-trailer truck into a mobile home.
Hurricanes making landfall often spawn tornadoes because of the storms' interaction with the ground, according to Brian LaMarre, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Slidell, Louisiana.
A hurricane usually harbors cells of intense thunderstorms. Contact with land can cause the thunderstorms rotate more intensely, and that can produce tornadoes, he said.
LaMarre said Hurricane Alex did not push spilled oil beyond beaches because the storm made landfall about 600 miles (1,000 kilometers) west of the Gulf spill site. (Related: "Hurricane Alex 'So Darn Large,' But Oil-Storm Fears Unfounded?")
But, he added, high waves and winds produced by Alex have temporarily halted work being done by BP to burn the oil and skim it from the Gulf's surface.

 

Read more...

Evils of False Progress Interfere in Fight for Climate - Now It's up to Us

Although one yearns for global warming to indeed not exceed 2 degrees Celsius (or less, as African countries demand), the take-home message from the Copenhagen COP meeting is that polluters and growth mongers, large and small, will not let up. This is because they are not being forced to -- whether by their own peoples or by natural forces such as ecological or economic collapse. Most diabolical is the intention to switch energy as the main strategy for climate protection, when it will not work.
What has happened in Copenhagen -- is it really a matter of degree and the lack of strong measures? Or is it a matter of kind? Most technofixers are clever enough not to call for endless growth, but they may as well say there's unlimited, infinite growth through resource exploitation somehow made "green." Here's the revealing part of World Resources Institute's statement trumpeting the pathetically inadequate COP climate deal:

The political agreement struck today has immediate operational effect, including the mobilization of finance to build the clean energy economy in developing countries... The dealt "does provide the framework for countries to move forward with ambitious national action. Action that will build clean energy markets, create jobs, enhance energy security..."

These ideas are admissions of the determined business-as-usual reformist wing of the industrial elite to preserve, if they can, mass consumerism that feeds megaprofits.
Why should a few more months of negotiating do anything but buy some time for those who refuse to "get it"? Ongoing failure will continue to be dressed up as good-faith efforts within the vicissitudes of statecraft.
The real state of affairs is truly, "It's up to us." From personal lifestyle change that's openly shared and publicized, to concerted and individual direct action, to local initiatives toward weakening corporate power including via boycott, it's all up to us. Nations and global institutions have failed to honor life itself, and they're taking us down -- not unlike the uncounted species going extinct daily. It's hard to face our true challenge when it's easier to wait until the next election and pretend again that one is doing one's bit.
As long as any climate deal or eventual treaty is in reality a realignment of industrial investment, toward the renewable-energy Holy Grail regardless of oil reality, then the accepted story is a fraud:

"billions in financial commitments from rich countries to the developing world to help in the fight against climate change. It is hoped that all countries will agree to a control mechanism -- meaning that each country agrees to allow its progress toward emissions reduction targets to be internationally verified." [Spiegel, Dec. 18 -- 'The Search for a Deal']

This constitutes a fraud in terms of slashing emissions, when the "energy market" programs and budgets mainly exist for still more funding, as opposed to immediate action that the Earth's crisis demands.
Take the poor countries' situation: their main root problems include cash crops and associated damage, and infrastructure boondoggles that resulted in major debt and concessions to privatization. Meanwhile these societies' strengths -- local indigenous knowledge and strength of community in acceptance of nature -- are being eroded by the transnational corporations and their lackey international lenders and "developed"-nation governments.
Therefore, money for the "developing nations" is not the real answer. It would be nice if it happened, if it went for the right things such as environmental restoration (e.g., tree planting = jobs and food plus carbon sequestration). But the intended big money -- assuming it happens when redistribution of wealth normally doesn't come about without revolution -- will be wasted to a great extent on corruption, cronyism, and the belief in industrial progress. A modern myth is that energy technologies and fuels are all the same -- just "energy" -- and can be somehow maximized and interchanged for continued "growth." Not to completely dismiss energy-technology aid, the distribution of some community solar panels for shared refrigeration and shared computer access, for example, would be helpful. But an unprecedented mass movement to slash emissions is what has to happen.
Let's be real: "$100 billion (€69.5 billion) annually for developing countries by 2020" is just talk, and is not going to happen with any more certainty than the world's population can go up and up indefinitely. The global economy cannot be sustained, let alone grow, with the loss of cheaply extracted petroleum that has already hit. Crash has begun, including petrocollapse, and the great unravelling is in motion.
There's very little evidence that President Obama gets much of this. Post Carbon Institute's Asher Miller's statement on Obama's Copenhagen contribution says it well: "US President Barack Obama has chosen political expediency over truth and justice." One might go further and wonder why one should have expected much from someone who turned out to be another war-machine Uncle Tom.
It is appealing that Chancellor Merkel says ""We have to change our lifestyles," but does this mean what it should: sharing appliances, ceasing commutes, establishing local economics to the exclusion of corporatism? Or does she mean "greener cars" and flicking switches in every home that burn a different form of energy than at present?
A culture change is overdue. It is underway, but it must become everyone's life purpose.

Read more...

Climate change could displace 25 million by 2010

Bonn, June 10 (IANS) By next year - that’s how soon around 25-50 million people will be displaced by climate change as it unleashes more natural disasters and affects farm output, says a senior UN researcher. Northern India will be among the worst affected in the long term.
“Climate change will displace 25-50 million people by next year. The situation will be the worst in the poorer countries,” says Koko Warner of the UN University’s Institute for Environment and Human Security.
“Most people will seek shelter in their own countries while others (will) cross borders in search of better odds.



“Societies affected by climate change may find themselves locked into a downward spiral of ecological degradation, towards the bottom of which social safety nets collapse while tensions and violence rise.”
Warner has just completed a study on climate-induced migration in collaboration with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Columbia University, the World Bank and the NGO CARE.
Warner and her colleagues have been pushing delegates from 182 countries gathered here for a meeting June 1-12 to include migration among the issues they consider as they prepare for a climate summit in Copenhagen this December.
“As climate change increases the frequency and intensity of natural hazards such as cyclones, floods and droughts, the number of temporarily displaced people will rise,” Warner told IANS in an interview.
“This will be especially true in countries that fail to invest now in disaster risk reduction and where the official response to disasters is limited.”
Her study confirms that ‘glacier melt’ will affect major agricultural systems in Asia. As the storage capacity of glaciers declines, short-term flood risks increase. The consequences of glacier melt would threaten food production in some of the world’s most densely populated regions.
In 2000, the river basins of the Indus, Ganga, Brahmaputra, Irrawaddy, Salween, Mekong, Yangtze, and Huang He collectively supported 1.4 billion people, almost a quarter of the world’s population.
Himalayan glaciers are already in retreat. Their dependence on glacier runoff makes downstream populations particularly vulnerable to the consequences, Warner pointed out. The Ganga irrigates 17.9 million hectares in northern India.
“The potential for migration out of irrigated areas could be significant,” Warner added.
“Although destination areas are hard to predict, it is likely that most migrating or displaced people would move to small to medium sized cities inland, and a smaller number would move to large megacities along the coasts or on the main branches of river systems, like Delhi. Many South Asian cities lack the capacity to absorb significant migration streams.”
However, Warner said: “There is potential for significant water saving efficiencies in irrigated areas of Asia, and if properly implemented this may forestall displacements of farmers.
Warner said in the densely populated Ganga, Mekong and Nile river deltas, a sea level rise of one metre could affect 23.5 millionpeople and reduce the land currently under intensive agriculture by at least 1.5 million hectares.
A sea level rise of two metres would impact an additional 10.8 million people and render at least 969,000 more hectares of agricultural land unproductive.
“Many people won’t be able to flee far enough to adequately avoid the negative impacts of climate change,” the researcher warned, “unless they receive support.”
But she said, “Sensationalist warnings must not be permitted to trigger reactionary policies aimed at blocking the movement of environmental refugees without genuine concern for their welfare.”
Countries attending this preparatory meeting are grappling with how much money each will get to adapt to climate change.
“Remember that people displaced by the chronic impacts of climate change, like inadequate rainfall and sea level rise, will require permanent resettlement,” Warner said.
(Joydeep Gupta can be contacted at joydeep.g@ians.in)

Read more...

Dressing for the big freeze in New York

When winter's full force hits New York, temperatures dip well below zero. And when the city freezes, New Yorkers ditch their stylish outfits for the "Michelin man" look, as Matthew Price explains.

New Yorkers swap style for practicality when snow and ice hit the city

To be honest, I don't think I ever saw this moment coming.
OK, so it had taken some time to get to this stage, but it still crept up on me.
The tipping point came as I stepped out of the splendidly ornate Woolworth Building in Lower Manhattan the other day, just as the Sun was dipping beneath the skyscrapers.
That act removed the rare patches of light (and therefore warmth) which occasionally strike the pavement and help make a winter's day here something approaching bearable.
The wind whacked me smack in the face, burning my lips and my ears. I pulled up my scarf. Tightened my collar. Out came the woolly hat. Still no good. So I ducked into a bank, and got dressed in the foyer. Gloves on. Zips closed. Buttons fastened. Scarf and hat adjusted. Jacket hood pulled up over the lot.
Thank God for the long-johns I had put on that morning.
Back outside and I could not hear a thing through the layers but the Manhattan winter had been successfully shut out. And I looked like a "Michelin man".
Fashion ditched
Sartorially elegant it was not. But after three winters here, I have learnt the hard-stone-cold-frozen way that elegance is not what a New York freeze calls for.
he first year I was based here, I strode around in what I thought was a nice fashionable coat, knees knocking and me cursing myself for forgetting to stick a hat in my bag that morning.
One friend looked me up and down and dismissively told me it was not going to be warm enough.
"Oh, it's just fine thanks," I replied. "Worked a treat back in London." Little did I know.
Still I struggled around, teeth chattering, because, well, if you are an Englishman in New York you need to dress properly, don't you?
By the second year I had learnt something. I bought an extra layer to go under the coat.

When the cold is accompanied by snow, New York is the place to be

But come one day in February, I realised my school-boy error. I stood out on a mid-town pier on the Hudson River on one of those perfect New York days. The Sun shone fiercely down from a cloudless deep blue sky, but it made no difference.
I knew I was in trouble when my Australian colleague, one of those tougher than tough guys who spend most of the year in just a T-shirt, said in his understated manner: "I think we'd better get inside."
His lips were blue. It was -16C with wind-chill.
Wrapping up
It is funny what winter does to a city. New Yorkers are a stylish lot, of course. But come the cold, they go all practical as well.
I have never seen so many men in ear-muffs in my life. So many women sporting full length duvet-style coats. So many ski-outfits not actually on the ski-slopes.
And yes, this year mine will come out on the super-cold days. You can spot the tourists a mile off. They are the ones in the flimsy jackets.
I used to think they looked good in comparison, until I realised they looked silly. Arms tightly folded in against the cold, noses running, trousers flapping around barely-covered ankles.

Cross-country skiers and pole-aided walkers take to the snowy streets

Take my advice, if you are coming over for a weekend break, bring the moon-boots. And a pencil. It is the time of year when reporters ditch pens. The ink freezes.
Of course, you do get remarkably used to it. Last winter, I remember stepping out of my front door into what felt like a perfectly balmy spring day.
It actually turned out to be just a degree above freezing, but after a week during which the temperature had stayed well below I left the hat at home.
Winter wonderland
And when the cold is accompanied by snow, New York is the place to be.
Unlike the big freeze in London in early 2009, when an entire city ground to a halt, New York still functions well.
The snow ploughs clear the avenues, the subways still run, and the city looks wonderful. Like a snapshot from an old movie, it turns grey and white.
Brilliant white flakes swirl past the Statue of Liberty, rise up over the Empire State, and settle down with an elegant curtsey in Central Park.
The snow muffles the noise of a city that rarely sleeps. Everything here, for once, feels calm.
And in the hip and gritty Lower East Side, in amongst the dive bars and graffiti, come the cross-country skiers.
Gliding down Rivington, and heading north up Norfolk.

Read more...

Snow gives Scots a white Christmas

The Met Office said that snow has been confirmed in Glasgow

Flakes of snow have fallen on Glasgow on Christmas morning, giving the city its first white Christmas since 2004.

An official white Christmas requires a single flake to be observed falling in the 24 hours of 25 December.
The Met Office said that snow has been confirmed in Glasgow and was forecast for Edinburgh and the north east.
Forecasters have issued a severe warning of widespread ice across much of the country and more snow across southern and central Scotland.
Anyone planning to use the roads on Christmas Day have been advised to plan their journey carefully and check the Traffic Scotland website.
Although Friday will be quiet on the roads, gritters will continue to salt the icy surfaces.
'Treacherous conditions'
The A93 at the Spittal of Glenshee and the A90 have both reopened after being closed because of ice.
BBC Scotland's weather presenter Gail McGrane warned of the possibility of "treacherous conditions" through southern and central Scotland, with between 5cm to 10cms of snow in places.
She said the north and north east of the country were also likely to see further snow showers, chiefly Aberdeenshire, Moray, East Highlands and the Islands.
Initially they will be heavy and frequent but ease with time, and become confined to the Northern Isles.
Towards evening, a band of rain, sleet and snow will reach Galloway and during the evening and night, this wet weather will push across the southern uplands, into the central lowlands.
Bookmakers had been expecting to pay out on one of the nation's favourite annual wagers, with William Hill making Aberdeen the odds-on favourite to see snow at 4/6. Edinburgh and Glasgow were offered at 10/11.
Coral's David Stevens said: "It was odds-on that there would be snow in Glasgow, so punters have something to cheer, but overall we've escaped a festive hammering, and it's a happy Christmas for the bookies."

Read more...

When winter's full force hits New York, temperatures dip well below zero. And when the city freezes, New Yorkers ditch their stylish outfits for the "Michelin man" look, as Matthew Price explains.

New Yorkers swap style for practicality when snow and ice hit the city

To be honest, I don't think I ever saw this moment coming.
OK, so it had taken some time to get to this stage, but it still crept up on me.
The tipping point came as I stepped out of the splendidly ornate Woolworth Building in Lower Manhattan the other day, just as the Sun was dipping beneath the skyscrapers.
That act removed the rare patches of light (and therefore warmth) which occasionally strike the pavement and help make a winter's day here something approaching bearable.
The wind whacked me smack in the face, burning my lips and my ears. I pulled up my scarf. Tightened my collar. Out came the woolly hat. Still no good. So I ducked into a bank, and got dressed in the foyer. Gloves on. Zips closed. Buttons fastened. Scarf and hat adjusted. Jacket hood pulled up over the lot.
Thank God for the long-johns I had put on that morning.
Back outside and I could not hear a thing through the layers but the Manhattan winter had been successfully shut out. And I looked like a "Michelin man".
Fashion ditched
Sartorially elegant it was not. But after three winters here, I have learnt the hard-stone-cold-frozen way that elegance is not what a New York freeze calls for.
The first year I was based here, I strode around in what I thought was a nice fashionable coat, knees knocking and me cursing myself for forgetting to stick a hat in my bag that morning.
One friend looked me up and down and dismissively told me it was not going to be warm enough.
"Oh, it's just fine thanks," I replied. "Worked a treat back in London." Little did I know.
Still I struggled around, teeth chattering, because, well, if you are an Englishman in New York you need to dress properly, don't you?
By the second year I had learnt something. I bought an extra layer to go under the coat.

When the cold is accompanied by snow, New York is the place to be

But come one day in February, I realised my school-boy error. I stood out on a mid-town pier on the Hudson River on one of those perfect New York days. The Sun shone fiercely down from a cloudless deep blue sky, but it made no difference.
I knew I was in trouble when my Australian colleague, one of those tougher than tough guys who spend most of the year in just a T-shirt, said in his understated manner: "I think we'd better get inside."
His lips were blue. It was -16C with wind-chill.
Wrapping up
It is funny what winter does to a city. New Yorkers are a stylish lot, of course. But come the cold, they go all practical as well.
I have never seen so many men in ear-muffs in my life. So many women sporting full length duvet-style coats. So many ski-outfits not actually on the ski-slopes.
And yes, this year mine will come out on the super-cold days. You can spot the tourists a mile off. They are the ones in the flimsy jackets.
I used to think they looked good in comparison, until I realised they looked silly. Arms tightly folded in against the cold, noses running, trousers flapping around barely-covered ankles.

Cross-country skiers and pole-aided walkers take to the snowy streets

Take my advice, if you are coming over for a weekend break, bring the moon-boots. And a pencil. It is the time of year when reporters ditch pens. The ink freezes.
Of course, you do get remarkably used to it. Last winter, I remember stepping out of my front door into what felt like a perfectly balmy spring day.
It actually turned out to be just a degree above freezing, but after a week during which the temperature had stayed well below I left the hat at home.
Winter wonderland
And when the cold is accompanied by snow, New York is the place to be.
Unlike the big freeze in London in early 2009, when an entire city ground to a halt, New York still functions well.
The snow ploughs clear the avenues, the subways still run, and the city looks wonderful. Like a snapshot from an old movie, it turns grey and white.
Brilliant white flakes swirl past the Statue of Liberty, rise up over the Empire State, and settle down with an elegant curtsey in Central Park.
The snow muffles the noise of a city that rarely sleeps. Everything here, for once, feels calm.
And in the hip and gritty Lower East Side, in amongst the dive bars and graffiti, come the cross-country skiers.
Gliding down Rivington, and heading north up Norfolk.

Read more...

Snow gives parts of UK first white Christmas since 2004

More snow could fall in some parts of the UK next week

Snow has fallen in parts of the UK to make the first white Christmas for five years, the Met Office has confirmed.

Edinburgh, Glasgow, Nottingham and Leeds were all officially "white", with the required single flake being seen falling in the 24 hours of 25 December.
Forecasters are now warning that ice could cause problems on Boxing Day.
The Met Office has a dozen severe weather warnings in place for widespread icy roads in Scotland, Northern Ireland and northern England.
The BBC weather centre said sleet and snow may have fallen elsewhere in the northern UK on Friday, but official confirmation has not yet been given of any more white Christmas locations.
A spokesman said the weekend would generally be warmer than previous days, although mornings would still be icy in the north.
Temperatures are, however, set to fall once again next week, leading to a risk of further snow in some central and northern parts of the UK.
After days of travel disruption, the Christmas Eve getaway generally passed off smoothly for motorists as weather improved across much of Britain.
The Highways Agency has lifted roadworks at 44 sites until 3 January and a spokeswoman said Christmas Eve had been quieter than Wednesday.
Andrew Howard, the AA's head of road safety, said it was possible people had waited until Christmas morning to travel.
He warned that even roads where ice had thawed could be dangerous.
"The trouble is that the salt gets washed away. If it refreezes then you don't have salt on the roads and there's very little you can do about it," he said.
"Even if a road has been salted, it doesn't mean it's safe."
The weather has wreaked havoc with the sporting calendar.
The National Hunt Boxing Day meetings at Towcester, Sedgefield, Wetherby and Market Rasen have been called off, while Wincanton and Huntingdon face late inspections.
Meanwhile, all but two of the Scottish Football League's Saturday fixtures have been postponed.

Read more...