Excellent article on the recession. Crumbling infrastructure, anyone?

Man, the NYT has some great articles today. This writer beautifully sums up the FUBAR economy and what he (and I fervently agree) thinks would be a good start to fix our broken system and create jobs.

"Economic alarm bells have been ringing in the U.S. for some time. There was no sense of urgency as long as those in the lower ranks were sinking in the mortgage muck and the middle class was raiding the piggy bank otherwise known as home equity.

But now that the privileged few are threatened (Merrill Lynch took a $9.8 billion fourth-quarter hit, and the stock market has spent the first part of the year behaving like an Olympic diving champion), it’s suddenly time to take action.

I’d start with a broad program to rebuild the American infrastructure. This would have the dual benefit of putting large numbers of people to work and answering a crying need. The infrastructure is in sorry shape. New Orleans comes to mind, and the tragic bridge collapse in Minneapolis.

The country that gave us the Marshall Plan to rebuild postwar Europe ought to be able, 60 years later, to reconstitute its own sagging infrastructure.

There are also untold numbers of jobs and myriad societal benefits to be reaped from a sustained, good-faith effort to achieve energy self-sufficiency. Think Manhattan Project."
LINK

Crumbling Infrastructure. Tragedy.

Once again, this is a tragedy that absolutely everybody saw coming.

"A 2001 study conducted by the Minnesota Department of Transportation found "several fatigue problems" in the bridge's approach spans and "poor fatigue details" on the main truss." LINK

"The American Society of Civil Engineers has warned of corroding bridges and other US infrastructure, saying in a 2003 report that 27 per cent of US bridges were structurally deficient or "functionally obsolete" due to outdated designs." LINK

Great Lakes warming faster than expected. Ta-daa!

"DULUTH, Minn. — For Jay Austin, who has made a career of studying the Great Lakes, the warming climate around Lake Superior is no mystery. But he was surprised to find the waters of the lake itself warming even more rapidly.
Austin, a Duluth professor and a researcher with the University of Minnesota-Duluth's Large Lakes Observatory, has studied decades of data. What he found was water temperatures rising almost twice as fast as air temperatures — more than 4 degrees for the average surface temperature." LINK

A water-skier in a wet suit was recently seen on the Mississippi River near St. Paul, Minnesota.

"Crocuses are pushing out of the ground in New Jersey. Ice fishing tournaments in Minnesota are being canceled for lack of ice. And golfers are hitting the links in Chicago in January."
LINK