Economy to get better... except for jobs.

The National Association of Business Economists is forecasting a modest Q3 rebound in real GDP. However, they expect the national unemployment rate to hit 9.8% by the end of 2009. That, in it self is neither surprising nor troubling to me. What troubles me is that they forecast unemployment to improve only slightly and for us to have a 9.3% unemployment rate at the end of 2010. Ick.

Terraform Earth Now!

I've been reading the Mars trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson.  It's quite good, though rather long and has some tedious (for me) passages detailing Martian landscape and geology.  Terraforming (and the political battles surrounding the speed, methods, and outcomes) is a major theme of the series.

One thing I've been noodling on is the idea "Terraforming" earth.  I see global warming as a proof-of-concept that we can influence (control) our macro-environment.  According to this article, we've have been doing it indirectly for 1000's of years:

"About 7,000 years ago, levels of carbon dioxide and methane began rising. During every previous similar interglacial period, of which there are at least seven, greenhouse-gas levels fell.

To explain this, palaeoclimatologist Bill Ruddiman formulated the “early anthropogenic hypothesis,” which holds that the source of these gases was land clearing and flooding for rice production by prehistoric farmers beginning 8,000 years ago. While this hypothesis still ruffles the feathers of many a climatologist, there remains no better evidence explaining the Holocene greenhouse-gas anomaly.It is even possible that global warming caused by prehistoric farmers has delayed the onset of the next ice age, which is due right about now."

from "http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/05/ftf-ellis-1/"

Banks would rather tear down brand new homes than sell them for a loss!

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Partially-completed-SoCal-apf-15147127.html?.v=3

They will foreclose on people and throw them out, and then turn around and tear down perfectly good brand new houses rather than sell them at a loss.... What is wrong with this picture....