"The weekend storm was unusual... because it struck so early in the season and moved in from the Pacific Ocean"
And remember, Arnie just said he don't want no oil drilling off the coast!
"'Dry lightning' sparks Calif. fires; Phenomenon accompanied by little or no rainfall" by Terence Chea, Associated Press | June 25, 2008
SAN FRANCISCO - In less than a day, an electrical storm unleashed nearly 8,000 lightning strikes that set more than 800 wildfires across Northern California - a rare example of "dry lightning" that brought little or no rain but plenty of sparks to the state's parched forests and grasslands.
The weekend storm was unusual not only because it generated so many lightning strikes over a large geographical area, but also because it struck so early in the season and moved in from the Pacific Ocean. Such storms usually do not arrive until late July or August and typically form southeast of California.
Do you hear HAARP strings being plucked, readers? I do!
Thousands of firefighters battled the blazes yesterday from the ground and air. No homes had been destroyed, but voluntary evacuations were in place for residents of at least 25 homes, officials said.
The lightning storm struck California when the state was experiencing one of its driest years on record. Many communities have adopted strict conservation measures.
MSM kept it kind of quiet, didn't they?
From San Francisco to Los Angeles, cities have seen only a tiny fraction of the rainfall they normally receive in a typical year. In the Central Valley, the cities of Sacramento, Modesto, Stockton, and Red Bluff have recorded their driest March-to-May periods since at least the 19th century, according to the weather service.
Even before the lightning struck, California had already seen an unusually large number of wildfires, although the fire season typically does not start until July and does not peak until late summer or early fall.
"This doesn't bode well for the fire season," said Ken Clark, a meteorologist in Southern California with AccuWeather.com. "We're not even into the meat of the fire season at this point, and the brush is extremely dry. It's not going to get any better, it's going to get worse."
The weekend's lighting storm combined with extremely dry conditions to spark about 840 separate blazes from the Big Sur area of Monterey County to Del Norte County on the Oregon border.
Yesterday, fire crews from Nevada and Oregon arrived after Schwarzenegger requested extra help. Smoke from the fires has darkened skies in the San Francisco Bay area and Central Valley, causing public health officials to issue air-quality warnings.
You think that would have made CNN or something, no?
Of course, I don't have the TV on, so how would I know?
I don't watch cable or network news anymore because it is all bullshit!
The weather service has said more dry thunderstorms could strike Northern California later this week.
--MORE--"
You know, now I wonder about this:
"Heavy thunderstorms and strong winds roared through New England yesterday, damaging numerous houses with lightning strikes and injuring one man in Rhode Island.
--MORE--"
And nothing like TAXPAYERS PAYING to fix a problem created by BIG BUSINESS!
Hey, it is the AmeriKan way!
LOXAHATCHEE, Fla. - The dream of a restored Everglades, with water flowing from Lake Okeechobee to Florida Bay, moved a giant step closer to reality yesterday when the nation's largest sugar cane producer agreed to sell all of its assets to the state and go out of business.
So the price of sugar is going to go up, isn't it? Sigh!
Under the proposed deal, Florida will pay $1.75 billion for US Sugar, which would have six years to continue farming before turning over 187,000 acres north of Everglades National Park, along with two sugar refineries, 200 miles of railroad, and other assets.
And who do you think is going to pay for that?
So why did you let them wreck it in the first place?
And why is this damn article all rewritten?! WTF?!
It would be Florida's biggest land acquisition ever, and the magnitude and location of the purchase left environmentalists and state officials giddy.
Even before Governor Charlie Crist arrived to make the announcement against a backdrop of water, grass, and birds here, dozens of advocates gathered in small groups, gasping with awe, as if at a wedding for a couple they never thought would fall in love. After years of battling with US Sugar over water and pollution, many of them said that the prospect of a partnership came as a shock.
"It's so exciting," said Margaret McPherson, vice president of the Everglades Foundation. "I'm going to do cartwheels."
The details of the deal, which is to be completed over the next few months, may define how long the honeymoon lasts. Previous acquisitions took longer to integrate than initially expected and, because US Sugar's fields are not all contiguous, complicated land swaps with other businesses may be required.
The purchase will be paid for with bonds and from fees already added to water bills. But if the price goes up or environmental remediation enters the picture, the state could have to renegotiate.
So TAXPAYERS might have to FORK OVER EVEN MORE, huh?
Well, as long as the enviro-nutties are happy, it's worth it!
The fate of US Sugar's 1,900 workers also remains in question and some former company executives have suggested that the state is overpaying, bailing out a company burdened with debt, a new sugar mill, and a lawsuit from former employees who said they were bilked out of retirement money.
Company officials said the deal would amount to $350 a share, after taxes and other obligations were paid, a premium over two previous offers of $293 a share that the company had dismissed as inadequate.
So the WORKERS are FUCKED, while the company is going to sing "cha-CHING" all the way to the bank, huh?
The accusations and concerns, however, did not dampen the mood. Even as workers from the mill in Clewiston tried to get a handle on their futures, and some cried foul, Crist emphasized the land's environmental value.
While declining to provide details of how the state arrived at the price of $1.75 billion, he said it was a terrific bargain.
"I can envision no better gift to the Everglades, the people of Florida and the people of America - as well as our planet - than to place in public ownership this missing link that represents the key to true restoration," he said.
Question: Why did GOVERNMENT let them DESPOIL the place to begin with?
The impact on the Everglades could be substantial. The natural flow of water would be restored, and the expanse of about 292 square miles would add about a million acre-feet of water storage. That amount of water could soak the southern Everglades during the dry season, protecting wildlife, preventing fires, and allowing for a redrawing of the $8 billion Everglades restoration plan approved in 2000.
A new design would essentially remove some of the proposed plumbing. Many of the complicated wells and pumps the plan relied on might never have to be built, water officials said, because the water could move naturally down the gradually sloping land.
Since 1931, US Sugar has farmed the area, using fertilizers that have often released phosphorous into the water. The company has long denied that its efforts severely damaged the land, and executives said that the sale would benefit the Everglades, and shareholders.
Unbelievable!
The Florida taxpayers are buying a POISONED, POLLUTED SITE!
And WHO is going to pay to clean that up?
Here's a glass of swamp water, Floridians!
"It's dollars and cents and the right thing to do," said Robert H. Buker Jr., the company's president, in an interview.
Especially for HIM!
Those most affected though will be current workers, and they could decide whether the purchase goes through. US Sugar took its stock off the public market in 1983 to create an employee stock ownership plan, so technically the company is owned by the workers.
Buker said he expected the workers would approve the deal because of the money they could make. But at a meeting with workers in Clewiston yesterday, opinions seemed mixed."It occurs to me that this is a good move if you are planning on culling the world's population, restoring the Everglades makes good sense!
And the workers?
Fuck them, huh?
