With a lockup of credit markets, increasing unemployment and a soaring national debt, the economy has already far eclipsed new energy initiatives in the minds of voters. What's more, paying for candidates' wish lists, including new nuclear plants, wind farms and solar energy, may be hampered by a $10-trillion national debt that could grow by another $700 billion once the bailout package begins dispensing taxpayer cash.

Shut-offs have been running 17 percent higher than last year among customers of New York state's major utilities, and 22 percent higher in economically hard-hit Michigan. They are up in all or part of dozens of other states, including Pennsylvania, Florida and California, according to an Associated Press check of regulators and energy companies.

The small 100 km (60 mile) diameter storm, which brewed up quickly on Monday, was 185 km (115 miles) east of the city of Veracruz as of 1800 GMT, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

History repeats itself in many ways, but oftentimes the parallels we seek to draw from past events are not so neatly drawn. How we got into the New Depression; what it means to you and your lifestyle and how long it will last are very relevant questions, and for perhaps the first time in history, because of film, we have some insight into living through such times. First, though, here is why it is a Depression, and not - contrary to the mainstream meme - a Recession: In a Recession, unemployment and inflation are high, the market drops, but investors run into commodities and bonds.

Officially, the central bank holds $8.14 billion (£4.65 billion) of foreign currency, but if forward liabilities are included, the real reserves may be only $3 billion - enough to buy about 30 days of imports like oil and food.

Today, our nation faces an environment of persistent conflict and uncertainty. The character of this environment is unlike any other in recent American history, where military forces operating among the people of world decide the major battles and engagements. Here, the margin of victory is measured in far different terms from the wars of our past.

Climate change was still "theoretical," the word that people in power use to dismiss anything for which pictures do not exist. It is the reason we don't see shots of coffins coming back from Iraq; it's the reason the only prison abuse we really know about was at Abu Ghraib. Without pictures, no uproar; not in a visual age.

Making this survey unique was that it distinguished findings between the countries surveyed. Respondents from Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Peru, Argentina, Mexico, Central America, Uruguay, Paraguay, Venezuela, Bolivia, and Ecuador were posed a variety of questions concerning the prospects of the energy market in Latin America.

Crude prices were also pushed lower by a stronger U.S. dollar and weakness in world stock markets.

The Borg is a hive-like hybrid swarm of humanoid species, turned partially robotic. They are distinctly goal oriented towards “assimilation” of all other humanoids and press themselves relentlessly with the creepy mantra “Resistance is futile.”

Its location on a low-lying alluvial plain near the mouth of Asia's longest river, the Yangtze, had already left it prone, but researchers warn that forests of skyscrapers sprouting across the ambitious metropolis could compound the threat by causing its marshy ground to sink.

The International Energy Agency’s World Energy Outlook tells us that 50 percent more energy will be needed in 2030 than in 2005 (after adjusting for efficiency improvements) and that almost three-fourths of this increased demand will come from developing countries, with China and India alone responsible for 45 percent of the increase in demand. After 2015, China is expected to be the planet’s biggest carbon dioxide emitter, ahead of the United States, followed by India as the third largest emitter. (Other studies show China is already the biggest contributor of greenhouse gases.)

The value of the 19 commodities in the Reuters-Jefferies CRB Index fell $280.6 billion, or 43 percent, from its July 3 peak, a loss larger than their total worth two years ago, data compiled by Bloomberg show. UBS AG, the Zurich-based bank that bought Enron Corp.'s energy unit in 2002, plans to exit most commodity trading. About 15 percent of investors in Boone Pickens's BP Capital LLC hedge fund may want their money back.

Morgan Stanley and Goldman, Sachs & Co. will serve as financial advisers for the review, which will look at all options for enhancing stockholder value, Houston-based Reliant said today in a statement. The company's shares plunged 54 percent last week after Reliant cuts its profit projections and arranged $1 billion in new financing.

The nuclear-powered missile cruiser Peter the Great, accompanied by the Admiral Chabanenko, an anti-submarine destroyer, as well as a reconnaissance vessel and a support ship, are destined for a maritime exercise with the Venezuelan navy.