Helicopters pluck stranded Europeans from snowbound villages - Winnipeg Free Press

BELGRADE, Serbia - Rescue helicopters evacuated dozens of people from snow-blocked villages in Serbia and Bosnia and airlifted in emergency food and medicine as a severe cold spell kept eastern Europe in its icy grip.

The death toll from the cold rose to 79 on Wednesday and emergency crews worked overtime as temperatures sank to minus 32.5 C in some areas.

...In central Serbia, choppers pulled out 12 people, including nine who went to a funeral but then could not get back over icy, snow-choked roads. Two more people froze to death in the snow and two others are missing, bringing that nation's death toll to five.

"The situation is dramatic, the snow is up to five metres high in some areas, you can only see rooftops," said Dr. Milorad Dramacanin, who participated in the helicopter evacuations.

Taxpayer Cash for Ener1 Helped a Thrice-Failed Foreign EV Company | National Legal and Policy Center

What did DOE (and for that matter, Gov. Daniels and Indiana Economic Development Corporation) know when it awarded Ener1 millions of dollars in grants and incentives in 2009? Did they understand the company’s dependence on a thrice-failed (perhaps more) EV maker? Did DOE watchdogs know Ener1 would immediately invest in shaky Think after its $118 million award? Was Vice President Biden’s visit to Indiana an attempt to instill confidence in the failing battery maker and Norwegian EV company? 

Is this what venture capitalism in the new “clean energy economy” is all about?