Two out of every three people face hunger as Haiti woes mount.

The hardship of hunger abounds amid the stone homes and teepee-like huts in the mountains along Haiti's southern coast.

The hair on broomstick-thin children has turned patchy and orangish, their stomachs have ballooned to the size of their heads and many look half their age - the tell-tale signs of malnutrition.

Mabriole town official Geneus Lissage fears that death is imminent for these children if Haitian authorities and humanitarian workers don't do more to stem the hunger problems.

"They will be counting bodies," Lissage said, "because malnutrition is ravaging children, youngsters and babies."

Three years after an earthquake killed hundreds of thousands and the U.S. promised that Haiti would "build back better," hunger is worse than ever. Despite billions of dollars from around the world pledged toward rebuilding efforts, the country's food problems underscore just how vulnerable its 10 million people remain.

In 1997 some 1.2 million Haitians didn't have enough food to eat. A decade later the number had more than doubled. Today, that figure is 6.7 million, or a staggering 67 percent of the population that goes without food some days, can't afford a balanced diet or has limited access to food, according to surveys by the government's National Coordination of Food Security. As many as 1.5 million of those face malnutrition and other hunger-related problems.

More at the Miami Herald.

From Superstorm Sandy to soaring temperatures in Australia, ongoing drought that has parched more than 60% of the U.S., and flooding from hurricanes around the world, we are experiencing the consequences of our carbon pollution now. We are paying the cost of these dirty weather disasters and other climate impacts through taxes, medical bills, and insurance rates (to name just a few). It’s past time to talk about the real cost of carbon pollution and to take action so that the polluters are paying their fair share.

Carbon pollution is not only disrupting our lives, it’s hitting our wallets. Comedian and musician Reggie Watts shows how, laying out the billion-dollar connection between fossil-fuel energy and dirty weather events like Superstorm Sandy caused by carbon pollution.

In the spirit of moving forward to solve the climate crisis, it’s time to jump-start a real carbon conversation.

For more information, visit The Climate Reality Project.

By Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica

When Uranium Energy Corp. sought permission to launch a large-scale mining project in Goliad County, Texas, it seemed as if the Environmental Protection Agency would stand in its way.

To get the ore out of the ground, the company needed a permit to pollute a pristine supply of underground drinking water in an area already parched by drought.

Further, EPA scientists feared that radioactive contaminants would flow from the mining site into water wells used by nearby homes. Uranium Energy said the pollution would remain contained, but resisted doing the advanced scientific testing and modeling the government asked for to prove it.

The plan appeared to be dead on arrival until late 2011, when Uranium Energy hired Heather Podesta, a lobbyist and prolific Democratic fundraiser whose pull with the Obama administration prompted The Washington Post to name her the Capitol's latest "It girl."

Podesta -- the sister-in-law of John Podesta, who co-chaired President Obama's transition team -- appealed directly to the EPA's second in command, Bob Perciasepe, pressing the agency's highest-level administrators to get directly involved and bring the agency's local staff in Texas back to the table to reconsider their position, according to emails obtained by ProPublica through the Freedom of Information Act.

By the end of 2012, the EPA reversed its position in Goliad, approving an exemption allowing Uranium Energy to pollute the aquifer, though in a somewhat smaller area than was originally proposed.

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Don was lucky. His is one of the last houses left standing on his street...

Friends of the Earth announced today the launch of its new Climate Stories campaign. The project, produced in partnership with HEIST (http://heistprojects.com), uses powerful, emotional video shot entirely on location to bring to light the very real and tangible effects that climate change and extreme weather are already having on Americans all across the country.

Inspired in part by the devastation left in the wake of Superstorm Sandy and this summer’s record-breaking drought, Climate Stories documents unique, personal stories from Americans living across the country, from Alaska to Nebraska, Louisiana to Vermont.

“We’re already seeing the effects of climate change everywhere, affecting Americans regardless of political affiliation or background,” said Friends of the Earth president Erich Pica. “This campaign represents a new way of approaching the issue. It’s time to hear from real people whose lives are already being transformed. Stories are a powerful way to mobilize and inspire everyone -- most importantly, President Obama -- to act now to on climate change.”

The website, found at www.ClimateStories.us, highlights short videos of Rockaway Beach, New York, and Isle de Jean Charles, Louisiana, emphasize the large-scale loss of neighborhoods and homes to Superstorm Sandy and encroaching sea levels, respectively. In the videos, interviews with residents draw contrasts between past weather patterns and the recent, erratic events that are destroying their ways of life.

The campaign also compiles user-submitted stories and invites visitors to submit their own accounts, pictures and videos. In Wisconsin, unseasonable temperatures ruined apple crops for a farming family and other apple-growers across the state, while in Colorado, a family explains the heartbreak of losing their home in recent record wildfires.

By focusing on the universal effects of climate change and extreme weather -- and the degrees to which they are being felt already -- Friends of the Earth intends to push President Obama to take a strong policy stance on climate change early in his second term.

“President Obama has an opportunity right now to take strong action to address climate change by rejecting the Keystone XL pipeline, calling for a carbon tax, and ending fossil fuel subsidies in the fiscal cliff negotiations. Acting now would set the tone for the next four years and mark a first step in fighting the climate-driven weather that is affecting Americans everywhere,” continued Pica.

The Climate Stories website includes a petition asking President Obama to make climate change a major focus in the next four years. Friends of the Earth will gather signatures in order prove to the president that climate change is not an issue delegated to political conveniences, but rather one that affects Americans of all walks of life.

Venetians and tourists wade through water almost waist-deep after the Italian city was hit by high tides this week, a strong southerly wind and heavy rain. More than 70% of Venice was flooded, with water reaching 149cm above sea level. Tourists attempted to cross St Mark's Square, desperately trying to keep themselves and their belongings dry.

Via The Guardian:

The floods that have devastated Italy over the past week could become even more severe in the future, threatening food production and destroying the country's natural beauty, experts warn.
...
In Venice water levels were receding after the city's sixth-worst flooding since records began in 1872.

Leading Italian meteorologist Mario Giuliacci said: "The Mediterranean has warmed up by 1C to 1.5C in the last 20 years, meaning that Atlantic weather fronts passing over it absorb more vapour and more heat, which means more energy. And that means ever more violent storms and more rain when the fronts hit Italy.

"An average of 80mm of rain should fall in Italy in November. In the last 40 years it has gone over 100mm 11 times, seven of which are since 1999," he added.
...
However, a clear pattern of climate change is emerging, and affecting Italy's agricultural output, an official from Italy's farmer's lobby, Coldiretti, said.

Italy's wine harvest dropped 6% to a 40-year low, while the apple harvest was down by 22%, pears by 13%, chestnuts by 50% and honey by 25%. Production of flour destined for making pasta dropped by 12%.

Thanks to Michael Moore for the video!

Michael Moore discussed Hurricane Sandy with Piers Morgan as a special guest on Wednesday evening; the devastation, the fatalities, the current conditions in New York City, people with no power, limited transportation, the recovery, and what led to the super storm in the first place.

At one point, Piers Morgan is speaking to Alan Aviles, the President of NYC Health and Hospitals Corporation. Morgan called it "shameful" that two of NYC's major hospitals suffered complete power outages, while Mr. Aviles attempted to explain that even at the peak of the storm, there was no suggestion that the hospitals would become endangered.

Moore: "Nobody has experienced this, as he(Aviles) said before. But this is -- what I want to point out that you say it unprecedented. It may be unprecedented, but -- when he says it is unprecedented, but it is going to set the precedent because this is what we are going to see from here on out. Unless we're will to talk -- and you said you want to talk about this later, climate change and global warming -- that is what has changed here."

"This is not going to be a freak incident, what happened here in New York and New Jersey this week. We have been seeing crazy weather for the last few years, the drought that took place this summer, this..."

Morgan: " I heard Michael Bloomberg saying the same thing, that he in all his time in New York had never known a more unstable year for weather. And he believed very firmly it is about global warming. Not enough is being done about this and it will get worse. What do you think?"

MOORE: "I think it already has gotten worse. I think we are way down the road here. We are -- we are in big trouble. And we're still having a debate in Congress as to whether or not there really is global warming. This is -- this is -- I'm -- the people, and it's the majority of Americans -- the majority of Americans believe that we've got a climate problem. And the majority of Americans believe in science."

"We've allowed the ignoramuses to run the show on this. And this storm should really put an end to that."

A full transcript of the show after the jump.

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The devastating heatwave that's overtaken the United States is destroying a great part of American agriculture. Forty-five percent of the corn crop has been destroyed, 35 percent of the soya bean crop, pushing the price of commodities to record highs. Overall, the global food prices have risen by 6 percent in July alone.

And what is the reaction of one of the biggest commodity traders in the world? Well, here's what the head of food department for Glencore had to say about all this. Chris Mahoney, who's the traders' director of agricultural products, said on a conference call, quote, "In terms of the outlook for the balance of the year, the environment is a good one." I have to add, a good one for Glencore. "High prices, lots of volatility, a lot of dislocation, tightness, a lot of arbitrage opportunities"—and that's "the purchase and sale of an asset in order to profit from price differences in different markets." Glencore, it should be added, reported pretax profits last year of $2.2 billion.

Sophia Murphy works as a consultant and senior adviser on agricultural, trade, and governance issues with the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy. She's co-author of a new research report, Cereal secrets: The world's largest grain traders and global agriculture, joins Paul Jay, Senior Editor, TRNN to discuss.

Full transcript available here.

Good morning, today is Saturday, August 11, 2012. Do you know where your representative is vacationing?

Via OccupyWallSt.org:

Legendary punk rocker Jello Biafra has written a new anthem for the Occupy movement. We at OccupyWallSt.org wholly encourage supporting Jello's radical genius by paying what you can!

SHOCK-YOU-PY! is my own tribute about the Occupy movement. It's called SHOCK-YOU-PY! because I come from the side of resistance that has a soft-spot in my heart for pranks and creative sabotage of the non-violent variety. Not everyone involved will totally agree with that, but I like when protests incorporate theater. I realize not all resistance is going to be fun and games, but it should be (whenever possible) uplifting and a celebration of the fact that we are raising awareness and fighting against runaway dictatorship, looting by large corporations, and people who have so much money they can't figure out what to do with it all (which is Occupy's main goal.)

SHOCK-YOU-PY! is meant to be a sing-a-long song that can be played acoustically at protests, at least most of it can. I was torn between making it completely a sing-a-long song or the usual skull-crushing Guantanamo School Of Medicine type-song, so we mixed it and re-mixed it a lot. The forthcoming EP has the sing-a-long version on it. There is also the rock-a-long version where the electrified guitars are considerably louder which is exclusively available on bandcamp. I had trouble making up my mind between the two. I liked the warmth and the spirit of the sing-a-long version but the rock-a-long version - with the guitars really loud - sounded best in my car.

Since it takes a few weeks to get CDs and vinyl made especially before the Fall rush, we are throwing SHOCK-YOU-PY! up now before it's mastered. And for this download you have freedom of choice - weigh-in, pick your favorite, tell your friends. There will be a 3rd mix of SHOCK-YOU-PY! that is the best of both worlds which will be on the full-length album.

SHOCK-YOU-PY! is part of a larger project from the Guantanamo School Of Medicine's new album called White People and the Damage Done which is not going to be out in time before the election. It will probably be out in either November or in January, I'm not sure which yet. We thought we would throw SHOCK-YOU-PY! up immediately for people who are willing to help us out (please! please! please!) You can pay for the song otherwise it's going to be spread around anyway and it is meant to be spread around. Anyone who wants to put it on an Occupy comp can. I am way in debt trying to record this album and our label is struggling to survive so we are hoping that people will be willing to throw down to check out the song.

And what does this say about Occupy as a whole? It says that it is a ground-up movement that doesn't have central-planning and some people would think not enough planning. Who knows where Occupy will be in a year, it may even have a completely different name but what it means to me is the resurrection, rebooting, reigniting and strengthening of the spirit of Seattle which was the first outbreak of mass-protest against corporate rule and recognizing it as such in the mainstream media. That is going to go on because more and more people are losing their jobs while climate collapse gets even worse (witness all the droughts and fires, especially in my home state of Colorado.) I don't think the Occupy movement in spirit is going to go away, quite the opposite.

See below for lyrics:

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