Monday, February 02, 2009

The UK measures its temperature in Celcius


Snow and freezing weather threaten to shut down Britain (click title to entry - thank you)

Arctic blizzards are set to cause a national shutdown on Monday as forecasters warn of the most widespread snowfall for almost 20 years.


By John Bingham


Last Updated: 11:34PM GMT 01 Feb 2009


The Met Office is warning of an "extreme weather event" across large swathes of England, Scotland and Wales with up to 10in of snow expected even in the usually warmer south and as much as 1ft on higher ground.


With freezing temperatures expected to endure for at least a week, there were predictions that resulting disruption and an expected spike in absenteeism could cost the British economy as much as £600 million a day, as the public transport system grinds to a halt and schools and offices are forced to close.


The wintry conditions claimed their first victim at the weekend as a walker fell more than 650ft after slipping on "iron-hard" snow in the Cairngorms.


Teresa Conalty, 40, from Co Wicklow, Ireland, died after slipping while walking on Coire Cas on Saturday.


Heavy snowfall forced Gatwick and London City airports to temporarily close their runways on Sunday night.


A Gatwick spokeswoman said 23 flights had been cancelled and 18 diverted as a result of the weather.


The snow also caused problems with the rail network as a number of services between London and the south coast were experiencing delays and cancellations as the snow drifted onto tracks....







The "Royalty" of the White House ends while returning White House Records to the People of the USA


Jack Abramoff and "W" - Where is the White House Guest Book?
President Bush met Abramoff on at least four occasions the White House has yet to acknowledge, according to the draft report by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.


...Perhaps the most significant was the repeal of a policy outlined in an Oct. 12, 2001, letter to federal agencies by then-Attorney General John Ashcroft that effectively urged them to resist Freedom of Information Act requests. Although it came soon after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, its reach went well beyond national security. The attorney general expressed a concern that "institutional, commercial and personal privacy interests" could be jeopardized by the use of the 35-year-old law. He assured agency heads that the "Department of Justice will defend your decisions" to withhold records, unless such denials lacked a "sound legal basis."


On his first days in office, Obama restored a "presumption in favor of disclosure" on FOIA requests. "The government," he said, "should not keep information confidential merely because public officials might be embarrassed by disclosure, because errors and failures might be revealed, or because of speculative or abstract fears."


Obama also repealed his predecessor's 2001 executive order that endowed former presidents and their heirs with near-absolute authority to invoke executive privilege to keep presidential records secret. Obama's order re-established the principle that White House records belong to the public - while maintaining a necessary process for current and former presidents to review and withhold documents whose disclosure might have negative national security implications....

Suu Kyi leaves home for UN envoy talks: Witnesses



2 Feb 2009, 0926 hrs IST, AFP
YANGON: Myanmar's detained democracy leader
Aung San Suu Kyi (click here) was taken on Monday from her home in a convoy for a meeting with visiting UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari, witnesses and officials said.

A Myanmar government official said that Aung San Suu Kyi and senior members of her National League for Democracy (NLD) party would hold a joint meeting with Gambari, who arrived in Myanmar on Saturday.

People living near Aung San Suu Kyi's sprawling lakeside compound in the former capital Yangon said cars left at about 10:00 am (0330 GMT), heading in the direction of a state-run guest house where Gambari has been holding talks....

It wasn't enough that Barak had to be sworn in my a Neocon Chief Justice that couldn't remember his lines, but, this?


Now I ask you, whom do you trust your Constitution to?



Yes, folks. That is definitely Clarence Thomas, Associate Justice of the United States, sleeping through Barack Obama's inaugural address. Even his pal Antonin Scalia had the decency to frown through the speech with his eyes open.

OPINION: GOP Atheist Tells Michael Steele to Divorce Religious Right (click here)
By American Atheists , An Educational Organization for Atheists - January 31, 2009

...David Silverman of American Atheists had this response:

I am a Republican Atheist, but I haven't voted for a Republican since Christie Whitman because I haven't been able to do so.

I believe in gun rights, a small government, low taxes, and a strong military. I believe the unions can be just as corrupt as corporations, and I believe in "workfare not welfare".

But I can't vote Republican, ever, because they have become tools of the Religious Right. They are, in my opinion, much more concerned about Intelligent Design, Faith-Based Initiatives, and making ME a 2nd class citizen than any of the issues on which we agree....

...and the Republican corruption scandal continues to unfold.


Then Washington lobbyists Jack Abramoff and Todd Boulanger are shown in this 2002 file photo.

Abramoff deputy, from NH, pleads guilty in scandal (click title to entry - thank you)
January 31, 2009


WASHINGTON—A former New Hampshire man who was a deputy to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff has pleaded guilty to charges in a Washington influence-peddling scandal.

Lobbyist Todd Boulanger admitted to a federal judge that he lavished government officials with trips, event tickets and pricey meals to get them to help his clients.

Boulanger is a native of Manchester, and for years was an aide to former New Hampshire U.S. Sen. Bob Smith. He left Capitol Hill to work with Abramoff, who now is in prison.

Boulanger, who is 37, could have faced up to 5 years in prison, but under terms of his plea deal, prosecutors recommended he get 18-24 months with reduced time if he continues to cooperate.

It is time to "Roll Back" the H1B Visa Program. It is costing Americans jobs.

The graph below is touted by The Heritage Foundation as a way to increase the nation's tax base. (click here) We need to educate our children and INSURE their college educations actually lead to well paying jobs with advancement opportunities. These visa programs are a Republican methodology to provide 'skilled labor' at cheap rates.


Foreign workers take jobs from Americans (click title to entry - thank you)
February 1, 9:17 AM
by Martha R Gore,
Watchdog Politics Examiner
Foreign imported workers have been used by American corporations under the false allegation of a worker shortage. The real reason for using foreign workers is that they are willing to work for lower wages.
As far back as 2002, Nobel economics laureate Milton Friedman said that the 1990 H-1B visa program is a government subsidy because it allows employers access to imported highly skilled labor at below-market wages. The excuse is that there are not enough qualified American workers but the reality is that since 1960, 30 million Americans have graduated with bachelor's degrees and advanced degrees, who could work as scientists, engineers, computer programmers and mathematicians.
During that time, there were only 8 million high tech positions that needed that level of training. So Americans were competing with foreign technical workers for the same positions. Between 1975 and 2005, more than 25 million foreign workers were approved in just five highly skilled visa programs. Fast forward to 2009 and the growing number of unemployed in the United States (U.S.)
According to a review of visa applications published by the Associated Press (AP) on February 1, 2009,
a good example is the banking industry which is being bailed out with billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars. Over the last six years, dozens of banks now receiving bailout funds have requested visas for more than 21,800 foreign workers as senior vice presidents, corporate lawyers, junior investment analysts and human resources specialists. During a time when huge numbers of bank employees were being laid off, the number of visas sought by a dozen banks actually increased from 3,258 in 2007 to 4,163 in 2008....

The "Lemon-Scented" streets of New Orleans seems a little expensive for Mayor Nagin.

..."Clarkson said she hoped to be able to announce an agreement by this evening or Monday morning to continue paying for the full panoply of enhanced "Disneylike" sanitation services."...


"THE BULL" SIDEWALK CLEANER (click here)
"The Bull" Sidewalk Cleaner is an innovative new service offered by SDT. Our sweepers and water trucks keep New Orleans' streets clean and fresh smelling, but our sidewalk cleaner takes it to the next level.

SDT's investigator says waste dumped as sabotage (click here)
by Chris Kirkham, The Times-Picayune
Friday November 21, 2008, 9:50 PM
A private investigator hired by SDT Waste & Debris says an employee intentionally sabotaged the company by illegally dumping portable toilet waste into sewage systems in and near New Orleans' City Park, then taking the story to a local media outlet....

States fail in latest prairie dog report card


Blacktail Prarie Dogs (click here)

02/01/2009
By SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN / Associated Press
Whether he sees his shadow or not this Groundhog Day, Punxsutawney Phil has it easy.
But in the West, his cousins are in dire straits, according to a report to be released Monday by WildEarth Guardians. The environmental group says North America's five species of prairie dog have lost more than 90 percent of their historical range due to habitat loss, shooting and poisoning.
WildEarth Guardians' report grades three federal land management agencies and a dozen states on their actions over the past year to protect prairie dogs and their habitat. Not one received an A.
New Mexico, home to the Gunnison's prairie dog and black-tailed prairie dog, earned a D — the same as last year — because the group said state wildlife officials weren't actively conserving prairie dogs. The group says oil and gas activity threatens habitat in rural areas, while urbanization in Albuquerque, Santa Fe and Taos is pushing the animals out.
"It's hard to see the prairie dogs that are missing when you drive across the West because our modern society has no perception about what it was like before we started poisoning prairie dogs," said Lauren McCain, WildEarth Guardians' desert and grassland projects director....

What in God's name has happened to the USA?

Michael, tell me this isn't so !

Town of Berwyn Heights, A Tree City, USA (click here)




..."As Cheye knelt, bound and half-naked, on his living room floor, "no one spoke to me about why they were here," Cheye recalled. "No one said, 'Prince George's County police' or 'Prince George's County sheriffs.' They never made that kind of announcement, just simply didn't do it."...