Obama's choices for pivotal, second-echelon government positions are time bombs that--policy by policy, decision by decision--will damage the nation's competitiveness, ability to innovate, and capacity to create wealth.

FORBES: Commentary

Berkely said transporting the nuclear waste to Nevada will damage the environment and do little to remedy the nation's nuclear-waste disposal dilemma.

CNN: Nevada representative warns against nuclear waste storage

Thus, to answer the question, mitigating the effects of the eruption will require preparations to protect human life, and to prepare the nation and economy for the inevitable significant disruption and damage that follows the eruption.

FORBES: What Can Be Done To Mitigate The Effects Of The Looming Mt. Fuji Eruption?

By 2Q in 1995, the nation still recovering from quake damage, profits had rebounded strongly.

FORBES: Japan Earthquake Throws Tiffany Off-Kilter, Stock Falls 5%

As a result, the product was never commercialized, and plants cultivated for food and fiber throughout the nation remain vulnerable to frost damage.

FORBES: Commentary

And in the days after it did, this nation and all the world bore witness to the fact that the damage from Katrina was not caused just by a disaster of nature, but also by a breakdown of government -- (applause) -- the government wasn't adequately prepared and we didn't adequately respond.

WHITEHOUSE: President Obama Holds Town Hall in New Orleans

War is the use of military force to attack another nation and damage or destroy its capability and will to resist.

FORBES: Putting 'We Are At Cyberwar' Rhetoric To Bed

Our nation deserves better choices than, on one hand, accepting the catastrophic damage caused by a failure like Lehman Brothers, or on the other hand being forced to pour billions of taxpayer dollars into an institution like AIG to protect the economy against that scale of damage.

WSJ: Geithner: My Plan for Bad Bank Assets

Extensive damage wreaked on Gulf of Mexico oil refineries last week by Hurricane Katrina has spurred talk of spreading out the nation's key oil refineries.

FORBES: Magazine Article