"Green Jobs" are not cost effective. Really? According to what standard exactly? Wall Street? They don't have to pay the bills for broken lives and broken dreams.

A house in Vermont is washed off its foundation in the floods that accompanied tropical storm Irene. (Courtesy The Mountain Times)

As Water Recedes, Cleanup Begins Across Northeast (click here for video)

By MICHAEL HILL and SAMANTHA HENRY Associated Press

WALLINGTON, N.J. September 1, 2011 (AP)

Weary residents across the Northeast pulled soggy furniture and ruined possessions onto their front lawns as they cleaned up and surveyed the damage wrought by Hurricane Irene.

The mess of destroyed furniture on Paul Postma's front lawn looked like a yard sale gone wrong. Over the weekend, Postma had watched as more than two feet of water filled the bottom level of his home in Lincoln Park, N.J. On Wednesday, he was using bleach to wipe down the house's mud-soaked walls.

"None of this has value," he said. "At least not anymore."…

I tell you what, why don't we let Wall Street sent every standard on God's Green Earth and watch it all disappear.  Sound like a plan?

Texas fires: 80% of state in 'exceptional' drought (click here)

September 1, 2011 |  3:59 pm

The U.S. Drought Monitor has released a new map of drought conditions across the nation, and it's not a pretty picture for Texas. About 80% of the state is currently experiencing exceptional drought.

See what looks like a bloody scab in the bottom center of the country? The brick-red color indicates exceptional drought. The brighter red is considered the not-quite-as-bad extreme drought. And the sunny yellow color? That's only severe drought.

Slightly more than 99% of the state is in severe drought or worse. Here's a closer view….

Hey, looky thar...a beef BBQ on the hoof.  All we need are forks and we can solve all the soup kitchen dreams in Dallas.

Hundreds of homes (click title to entry - thank you) and farm animals evacuated as huge blaze rips through Oklahoma
Oklahoma City set a record for the number of days in a year with temperatures above 100 providing perfect conditions for fires

By STEPHANIE DARRALL

Last updated at 1:03 PM on 31st August 2011

A wildfire that sparked in a wooded area forced panicked horse owners to turn their livestock loose as they evacuated the area in Oklahoma City yesterday.

Before being contained, the raging fire caused swathes of cedar trees to explode into flame as the wind-whipped blaze reached them in the North-East of the city.

Oklahoma City set a record for the number of days in a year with temperatures above 100 and the near unrelenting heat wave this summer meant conditions were ideal for grass fires….