This article makes some very good points, up until it delves into the silliness of anthropogenic global warming.

Iowa flooding could be man’s fault, experts say
Where some blame days of rain, others point to an altered landscape

Enshayan, director of an environmental center at the University of Northern Iowa, suspects that this natural disaster wasn't really all that natural. He points out that the heavy rains fell on a landscape radically reengineered by humans. Plowed fields have replaced tallgrass prairies. Fields have been meticulously drained with underground pipes. Streams and creeks have been straightened. Most of the wetlands are gone. Flood plains have been filled and developed.
...
I sense that the flooding is not the result of a 500-year event," said Jerry DeWitt, director of the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University. "We're farming closer to creeks, farming closer to rivers. Without adequate buffer strips, the water moves rapidly from the field directly to the surface water."
...
The basic hydrology of Iowa has been changed since the coming of the plow. By the
early 20th century, farmers had installed drainage pipes under the surface to lower the water table and keep water from pooling in what otherwise could be valuable farmland. More of this drainage "tiling" has been added in recent years. The direct effect is that water moves quickly from the farmland to the streams and rivers.

We humans tend to think we can conquer the landscape, bend it to our will. And God shows us over and over again that we are puny compared to Him and the scope of His creation.

Mississippi River threatens more Midwest levees

ST. LOUIS, Missouri (CNN) -- The Mississippi River claimed new tracts of farmland overnight north of St. Louis, Missouri, as officials warned that the swollen river could breach four or five more levees Thursday around the Gateway City.
...
The floods in six states have killed two dozen people, injured 148 and forced at least 35,000 out of their homes, Federal Emergency Management Agency Director David Paulison said Wednesday.

***

Fire! (I can say that, because I'm not in a crowded theater.)

Oregon: Road near Chiloquin wildfire reopens

Officials reopened a stretch of the Sprague River Highway that had been closed because of the Pine Ridge wildfire burning north of Chiloquin. Six miles of the road had been closed because of falling rocks and firefighting efforts.

Oklahoma: Drought-Fueled Wildfire Burns Across 5,500 Acres in Panhandle

Jun. 13--Windy conditions and a record drought fueled a 5,500-acre fire in the Oklahoma Panhandle on Wednesday and Thursday.

The fire burned through rangeland in Texas County and was extinguished by midday Thursday, according to authorities. Texas County Sheriff Arnold Peoples said the fire was sparked when an oil-field truck hit a power line.

The fire caused no injuries or damage to homes, but underscored the intense drought conditions that plague the area. Two officials interviewed Thursday compared the situation to the Dust Bowl of the 1930s.

See also: Oklahoma Panhandle's Drought Seeks Federal Aid

California: Central California wildfire burns several homes

KING CITY, Calif. (AP) — A stubborn central California wildfire that has burned
more than 65 square miles of wilderness has destroyed several homes and led to
evacuation warnings for dozens of residents.

About 50 people living near the Los Padres National Forest in Monterey County received voluntary evacuation notices Wednesday. Another 500 were told to prepare for a possible evacuation.

Colorado: Wildfire threatens homes, destroys barn

The El Paso County Sheriff's Office said the fire started 2:00 p.m. Wednesday afternoon, they believe it was ignited by multiple lightning strikes in the area. In total, 1,000 acres were charred and two structures, a barn and out-building, burnt to the ground.

South Carolina: Wildfire on Hartwell Lake islands creates smoke

ANDERSON, S.C. — A wildfire on two islands on Hartwell Lake sent a plume of smoke over the area, but no one was injured. The Anderson Independent-Mail
reported Thursday that the fire was reported under control.

North Carolina: Too little rain in forecast to put out NC wildfire

Fire command center spokesman Dean McAlister said Thursday that forecasters aren't predicting more than 2 inches of rain in and around the Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge for either June or July. But he said a hurricane or tropical storm could change that.

***

Blood Oil

Could a bunch of Nigerian militants in speedboats bring about a U.S. recession?
Blowing up facilities and taking hostages, they are wreaking havoc on the oil
production of America's fifth-largest supplier. Deep in the Niger-delta swamps,
the author meets the nightmarish result of four decades of corruption.
by Sebastian Junger February 2007

This ties in to the link in my last post about the Nigerian oil attacks. You'll note the date of the article.

Christianity 'could die out within a century'

More than half of Britons think Christianity is likely to have disappeared from the country within a century, according to a survey.

Research by the Orthodox Jewish organisation Aish found that just over a third of people thought religions like Christianity and Judaism would still be practiced in Britain in 100 years' time.

Although four in 10 people said they would choose to be a member of the Christian religion, almost the same number said they would rather practice no religion at all.

Well, I don't think we have a hundred years to see it play out. I also don't think it's going to take anywhere near that long.

‘Little Baghdad’ thrives in Sweden
Sodertalje has taken in more Iraqis than U.S., but mood is changing

Change has come to Sweden because of the Iraq war, driven by an open-arms refugee policy and word of mouth in Iraq. Most of the 2 million externally displaced Iraqis are living in Syria and Jordan, but Sweden tops the list of Western nations that have offered a haven.

In 2007, Iraqi citizens claimed asylum in 89 countries, with almost half those claims — 18,600 — reported in Sweden, the U.N. refugee agency reported this week. And Sodertalje, a city of 83,000 people, took in more Iraqis than the United States and Canada combined.

Zimbabwe: wife of Harare's MDC mayor killed

The body of the wife of Harare's mayor has been discovered hours after she was abducted with her four-year-old son in the latest raid targeting Zimbabwe's senior opposition figures.

Abigail Chiroto, 27, was kidnapped yesterday by armed men who then petrol bombed the house she shared with her husband, Emmanuel Chiroto, the recently elected mayor of Harare and a member of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change. The cause of death was not immediately revealed.

***

Obama says bin Laden must not be a martyr

Of course, Obama is a dangerous idiot.

Why bin Laden should get the death penalty rather than prison (I think he's already dead, but just sayin'):
1) He is responsible for the deaths of thousands. Prison time is morally insufficient.
2) Better to spent our tax dollars killing him than supporting him.
3) Consideration of the pluses to the jihadis from using him as a martyr must be balanced by consideration of the minuses to us of being seen as weak in their eyes.

And a friendly reminder of just how dangerous BHO's foreign policy is. :)