The top banks are 23 percent larger than they were before the G.O.P. Economic Meltdown crisis began.
52 percent of all the assets held by the entire banking industry have now become aggregated into the hands of just five companies (up from 17 percent four decades ago), and the top 10 institutions have swollen so large that they possess wealth that equates to roughly half of America’s annual G.D.P. (gross domestic product). == per Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas in its annual report for 2011 released March 2012
By mid-July, JPMorgan said that the bad trade in U.K. has ballooned to a loss of $5.8 billion.
GLOBAL WARNINGS
Precipitation in New Mexico from January to June this year has been 54 percent of the longterm average, and 81 percent of the state is classified as being in 'severe drought'. == per the U.S. National Weather Service
Sea levels along the coast of Virginia have risen more than a foot {30+ cm} and are still rising. Average rise along the Altantic coast of America is 4.85 inches.
"For the entire country, the first six months of 2012 were the hottest ever recorded – an amazing 4.5°F above the XXth Century average." == per U.S. National Climatic Data Center
OTHER CONCERNS
Search engine usage statistics for May 2012: Google handled 66.7 percent of searches; Bing was second with 15.4 percent (vs. 14.1 percent a year ago); Yahoo was third with 13.4 percent (vs. 15.9 percent a year ago); Ask did 3 percent; AOL did 1.5 percent.
The lingering power outages from the July storms on the East Coast are largely due to deferred maintenance on the grid by the power companies – the money not spent on needed repairs makes the bottom line seem better – including rust-damaged 'steel wire' power lines still in place from the 1940s.
Is nothing sacred? The uniforms for the U.S. Olympic Team that were announced in July were made in China.
TIME Magazine combined information from several sources into a half-page graphic about 'Where The Jobs Will Be' over the next five years. Their top ten are: social networking sites (27% growth); street traffic info providers; green construction; social network gaming; relaxation drinks; medical device recycling; green building materials; retinal-imaging machines (17% growth); internet publishing & broadcasting; and secure data storage.
For some reason, this seems like a very cool piece of equipment: the off-road wheelchair from Action Trackchair in Minnesota.
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