Havoc across the Triad

May 9, 2008
Advance, North Carolina


May 9, 2008
Advance, North Carolina


May 9, 2008
Advance, North Carolina


May 9, 2008
Advance, North Carolina
Photographer states :: After the tornado - pictures taken after the Advance, Nc tornado

With in days after a Cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar, Yangon; there is a major earthquake in China. Hm.

Magnitude 7.9 - EASTERN SICHUAN, CHINA (click here)
2008 May 12 06:28:00 UTC
Monday, May 12, 2008 at 02:28:00 PM at epicenter

The earthquake broke underground pipes, causing water and mud to flow across the streets in the city of Chengdu

China earthquake: 'Tens of thousands' dead (click here)
By Richard Spencer in Chengdu and Malcolm Moore
Last Updated: 9:38PM BST 12/05/2008
Tens of thousands of people are feared dead after the biggest earthquake in three decades struck China.
The official death toll has been put at more than 8,500, but rescue workers and the Chinese army have not yet reached the worst affected areas.
The 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Sichuan province this afternoon. The epicentre was 50 miles north of Chengdu, a city of 11 million people, but tremors were felt more than 1,000 miles away in Bangkok and Hanoi.
At least six primary and middle schools were destroyed in the disaster, and 900 pupils were buried under rubble when the three-storey Jiangyan Middle School in Dujiangyan collapsed....

Photo that Junta could not hide

Russia has the better rapport with the Myanmar government, everyone get of the way of the Russian Relief Effort. I strongly recommend the United Nations channel its efforts through Russia !

Russia to deliver more humanitarian aid to Myanmar May 12 (click here)

MOSCOW, May 11 (RIA Novosti) - A second plane from Russia's Emergencies Ministry's fleet is expected to deliver humanitarian aid to cyclone-hit Myanmar on Monday, Russia's embassy in the southeast Asian country said on Sunday.
Myanmar is attempting to recover from Cyclone Nargis that, according to official data, has left over 20,000 people dead and dozens of thousands homeless.
Russia's first plane with humanitarian aid landed in the capital of Myanmar, Yangon, early on Saturday.
Cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar on May 3, devastating large parts of the country. Health official fear that the death toll is likely to rise to at least 100,000 people as rescue workers struggle to reach remote settlements, while the nationwide number of displaced people could reach millions.
Both planes from Russia's Emergencies Ministry are expected to deliver a total of 60 metric tons of humanitarian supplies, including tents, blankets, generators, medical supplies, including disinfectants and bandages, and food.
A state of emergency has been introduced in the five worst-hit areas - the Irrawaddy delta, the cities of Yangon and Pegu, and the states of Karen and Mon. Most of the deaths came in the low-lying Irrawaddy delta region.

May 12, 2008
1534 gmt
Global Pacific Satellite


May 12, 2008
1711 gmt
Western Pacific Satellite

Besides the obvious tragedy that accompanies life due to severe storms, there is a heat transfer into Antarctica noted.


May 12, 2008
1123 gmt
Indian Ocean Satellite

The reason the heat is concentrated over the Indonesian Islands is because that is where there is available water vapor. The jungles and tropical forests help concentrate the heat and spawn huge storms to drive the heat into the oceans. Otherwise, the entire planet would be suffering the consequences of drought as Africa is today. The jungles of Africa are still producing heat accumulations that will result in hurricanes, but, where there is savannah there is profound, regional drought.

May 12, 2008
This is one of the photos released by the Burmese dissident group.

Bodies Flow Into Hard-Hit Area of Myanmar (click here)

THANAP PIN SATE, Myanmar — The bodies come and go with the tides. They wash up onto the riverbanks or float grotesquely downstream, almost always face down. They are all but ignored by the living....

NC gets high winds, power outages after reported tornadoes

May 12, 2008
1526 gmt
Africa-Europe Satellite


May 12, 2008
1527 gmt
Western Hemisphere Satellite

The heat is significant everywhere. The southern hemisphere is exceptionally hot, but, the tropical northern hemisphere is starting to spawn storms across the Atlantic from Africa. Hurricane propagation.


May 12, 2008
0630z
UNISYS Water Vapor Satellite Western and Northern Hemisphere

And that brings us back to the Artic Oscillation. It will be delivering all kinds of bad news beginning with the West Coast.


May 12, 2008
0530z
UNISYS Enhanced Infrared Western and Northern Hemispheric Satellite.


May 12, 2008
0530z
UNISYS GOES East Enhanced Infrared Satellite

NC - Vast Devastation on coastal plain (click here)


May 12, 2008
0530z
UNISYS USA Enhanced Infrared Satellite




May 12, 2008


0531z


UNISYS Mid-Atlantic Enhanced Infrared Satellite Image



Posted: Today at 11:02 a.m.
Updated: 16 minutes ago
ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Strong winds raked western North Carolina on Monday and knocked out power to thousands following a severe weather system that spawned seven tornados a day earlier.
"We've got a lot of trees down in the mountains," said Doug Outlaw, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service office. "It really got going late yesterday and just increased overnight."
Duke Energy and Progress Energy reported more than 21,000 customers were affected by power outages Monday morning.
Outlaw said wind speeds reached an estimated 60 mph in the mountains and higher in mountain gaps where the wind was funneled. He said a roof was lifted off a house at Lake Lure as wind charged through a gorge at the end of the lake southeast of Asheville....

May 11, 2008
Maryville, Tennessee
Photographer states :: WIND FOR FIVE DAYS - Wind hit on Friday afternoon and is still here in the East TN Valley.
Returning home from Asheville (North Carolina) yesterday (Sunday) the wind in the mountains was moving trucks and cars around on the high roads.
Returning home at 6 PM Sunday night the phone was ringing with reports of a tree down in a home we own in Maryville, TN (less than 7 miles from where we live) and numerious trees down in that neighborhood.
Driving over we found a 100 year old oak in our yard down. It fell across our drive, power and phone lines and on top of a neighbor's Volvo parked at the top of our driveway. The tree blocked a side street and the top branches cut into the same neighbor's flowers in there front yard.
Police and utility crews told us they had been clearning trees since 1 AM Sunday morning and the wind had never stopped.
Today it is sunny but more of the same still in the area.

It is called Sea Level Rise

MOUNT HOLLY (click title to entry)— The National Weather Service in Mount Holly has issued both a coastal flood warning and a wind advisory for both Monmouth and Ocean counties.
A coastal flood warning remains in effect until 8 a.m.
A strong onshore flow is expected to cause widespread minor tidal flooding on the ocean front and the adjacent back bays around the time of high tide today and again tonight.
Areas of moderate tidal flooding could occur with the higher of the two tides along the southern new jersey and delaware coasts tonight.
For Sandy Hook, the next high tide will occur at 3 p.m. today and is forecast to be 7.5 to 8.0 feet above mean lower low water levels. High tide is again at 3:12 a.m. Tuesday and is forecast to be 7.0 to 7.5 feet above mean lower low water levels and 3:57 p.m. Tuesday with a height of 7.0 to 7.5 ft above mean lower low water levles.
A wind advistory has also been issued for the Shore area....

Wild Weather, Heavy Wind Gusts Threaten NYC (click here for VIDEO)

NEW YORK (CBS) ― New York City felt more like Chicago on Monday morning, with chilly, wild weather turning the Big Apple into the Windy City and local airports into crowded waiting rooms.

"It is going to be a raw day today," said CBS 2 Meteorologist John Elliott.

Rain pushed into the tri-state overnight and tapered off to sprinkles in the morning, but the real concern is heavy bands of storms pushing in from the south. Periods of heavy rain are possible with extremely windy conditions.

The National Weather Service issued a Wind Advisory for the city until 5 p.m., and New Yorkers can expect to see winds between 20 and 30 mph, with strong gusts out of the east-northeast up to 50 mph.

The winds were causing headaches for travelers at area airports. Flights arriving at La Guardia Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport were experiencing delays of more than two hours, while flights arriving at John F. Kennedy Airport were seeing delays of up to an hour.

A Coastal Flood Advisory has also been issued until Tuesday due to tides averaging about two to three feet above normal.

In Cape May County, West Wildwood declared a state of emergency due to flooding, but did not insist that residents evacuate. The situation was the same in much of New Jersey's southernmost county, according to emergency management director Francis McCall.

"There's flooding on all the barrier islands," he said. "People have left on their own, but it wasn't mandatory."...

I tell you what, life in the USA is so bizarre that we just need to put our feet up and watch Britney Spears on "How I met your mother." Right? What a great distraction to reality while the weather conditions across the nation become lethal. Sounds like a plan.

The Greenland Melt in current decade (click here).

The ocean view below was once a mass of sea ice, icebergs and glaciers.


Greenland's History of Melting (click here)
May 8, 2008 -- The idea that Greenland's ice melts sluggishly in response to global warming has long been one hedge against rapid global sea level rise -- but the idea may be wrong, say researchers.
New geologic evidence from the seafloor off the southern tip of Greenland shows that during the two past periods of global warming, the melting of Greenland glaciers was right in synch with rising global temperatures -- rather than lagging behind as models have predicted.
In other words, the ice is very sensitive to global warming and recent losses of ice there could be the beginning of a much larger melt than expected.
"People had thought that there was this thermal lag," said Anders Carlson of the University of Wisconsin in Madison.
But offshore sediments that record the debris that is washed out from valleys when glaciers recede tell another story. As Carlson said, "As soon as it starts warming, it starts to melt."...

The weather at Glacier Bay Natioanl Park is (Crystal Wind Chime) warm:

May 12, 2008
1323 gmt
North Pole/Artic Ocean Satellite

The Artic Oscillation/Vortex extends to Asia. It is continous from Alaska, at 9 o'clock to the Asian continent at 10 o'clock. The entire planet is extremely hot and the Australian/New Zealand drought continues.

This is the lastest out of Japan. You know the folks. The ones that brought the world Kyoto Protocol which was supposed to be ratified by all world powers that had the resources to reverse and stop Human Induced Global Warming by the year 2012. The USA is criminally liable.

Arctic ice seen shrinking to smallest size recorded (click at title to entry)
The Yomiuri Shimbun
Ice sheets in the Arctic Ocean could shrink this summer to the smallest area on record since satellite observation of the sheets began in 1978, according to researchers.
Researchers at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency made the prediction based on their analysis of satellite images. JAXA's satellite observations from September last year showed that the area covered by ice sheets in the Arctic Ocean had withered to the smallest on record.
Arctic ice is gradually shrinking year by year due to global warming. It expands in winter and shrinks in summer.
Their observations this winter also showed that the total area of ice in the Arctic had recovered to levels seen in previous years, according to the researchers.
Through observations conducted with the help of a Japanese device installed in a U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration earth observation satellite, JAXA confirmed a decline in the amount of thick perennial ice, or long-lasting sea ice.
A comparison of images taken on April 20 over the last six years also indicated that areas covered with perennial ice, which is light green in color, have been gradually shrinking since 2005. This year, areas with perennial ice further withered to nearly half the size seen in 2005, according to the researchers.
The researchers are particularly worried about the disappearance of perennial ice from around the North Pole.
It is understood that the thinner the ice is, the more easily it melts due to higher air and water temperatures.
(May. 12, 2008)


May 12, 2008
1530 z
Infrared Satellite Image of the Arctic Oscillation. (click here for 12 hour loop) It is enormous. This is a new maximum since October 4, 2002.

Local Time: 9:23 AM AKDT

Lat/Lon: 58.8° N 137.0° W

Temperature :: 46 °F / 8 °C

Conditions :: Overcast

Windchill :: 43 °F / 6 °C

Humidity :: 71%

Dew Point :: 37 °F / 3 °C

Wind :: 7 mph / 11 km/h / 3.1 m/s from the East

Pressure :: 29.71 in / 1006 hPa (Rising)

Visibility :: 10.0 miles / 16.1 kilometers

UV :: 1 out of 16

Clouds:
Scattered Clouds 3200 ft / 975 m
Overcast 4100 ft / 1249 m
(Above Ground Level)
Elevation:
33 ft / 10 m

NY Times has most recent body count - Rescue Crews Search for Survivors After Storms Kill 22 in Three States

May 11, 2008
0730z
UNISYS Water Vapor Satellite

This vortex system was very fast moving. In less than 11 hours it traveled from the Mississippi to the Eastern Seaboard. Powerful. A lot of heat is driving that system to those dynamics/velocity/vorticity/fluid dynamics (air is fluid), hence, the tornadoes.

May 11, 2008
1830z
UNISYS Water Vapor Satellite (click here for 12 hour loop)

For as puny as this tornado appears, the reality is noted in it's vorticity related to it's height and length. In order to support such a powerful funnel cloud over the length of this tornado the forces had to be considerable.

May 10, 2008
McAlester, Oklahoma
Photographer states :: Tornado dissipating as it is going over McAlester, OK.


May 10, 2008
McAlester, Oklahoma
Photographer states :: Another view of tornado from downtown McAlester. Here the tornado is directly overhead and it's starting to rain debris from the sky(didn't really turn out good in the picture).


May 10, 2008
McAlester, Oklahoma
Photographer states :: Another view of tornado from downtown McAlester.



May 2, 2008

Seven Dead in Arkansas

Many More Tornadoes So Far This Year, Than in 2007
DAMASCUS, Arkansas (AP) -- Residents of communities across Arkansas are spending the weekend facing the wreckage of homes torn apart by violent weather that has pushed this year's storm death toll in the state up to at least 26.
``You can see the bags under the eyes of the people who consistently over and over again are called on to respond,'' Gov. Mike Beebe said. ``That's their job and that's our job and we'll do it, no matter how many hours it takes or how many days it takes.''
Seven Arkansans were killed Friday in thunderstorms that tore up parts of four states, and two dozen or more were injured. Emergency officials initially reported eight deaths, but revised the figure downward Saturday. Meteorologists said more than 25 tornadoes may have touched down across middle America late Thursday and early Friday.

http://www.knx1070.com/Tornados-Kill-7-in-Arkansas/2118830


Teen Dead After Line of Tornadoes Hits Four States (click here)
Damage in Midwest as 19 Storms Hit; Storm System Moving East
May 2, 2008
Nineteen tornadoes swept through four Midwestern states overnight, leaving at least seven people dead, according to The Associated Press, and a string of damage to homes and buildings.
A 15-year-old girl in the northwest Arkansas town of Siloam Springs died when a tree fell through the bedroom where she was sleeping, according to The Associated Press.
Police say a 10-year-old boy was rescued from the same room and taken to an area hospital, where he was in good condition and expected to be released.
The line of storms extended through Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Arkansas and is moving toward Illinois, where thunderstorm watches are in effect....

May 8, 2008

One Death in Greensboro, North Carolina

Tornado knocks vehicles around in N. Carolina, kills 1
GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — Authorities were waiting for daylight early Friday so they could begin assessing the damage from a reported tornado that killed one person and injured three others in central North Carolina.
What law enforcement officers said was a tornado touched down on the outskirts of Greensboro late Thursday as severe storms swept across the Southeast, damaging homes and businesses in at least three other states.
An apparent tornado also wrecked a shopping area in Mississippi and strong winds flipped a mobile home in Alabama. In south-central Tennessee, at least four homes and a few barns were damaged.
The person killed was in a small truck that overturned in a parking lot in a parking lot west of Greensboro, said Alan Perdue, emergency services director for Guilford County. He did not have other details.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jW-BndswWuhgPAPXOK4Q6TCQsANQD90I2S6G0


May 10, 2008

Tornado wrecks central US towns
Tornadoes and severe storms have swept across the central part of the United States, causing destruction and killing at least 18 people.
A tornado severely damaged the north-eastern Oklahoma town of Picher before hitting the Missouri town of Seneca 15 miles (24km) away.
At least six people died in Picher and a total of 12 in Missouri.
An emergencies official in Picher said a 24-street area of the town had been "virtually destroyed".
Michelann Ooten warned that the death toll could climb as rescuers sifted through the rubble looking for survivors.
Television images showed overturned cars, homes ripped from their foundations and trees stripped of their leaves.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7394402.stm


Multiple twisters cut path of terror
5:00AM Monday May 12, 2008
OKLAHOMA CITY - At least 18 people were killed yesterday in Missouri and Oklahoma after tornadoes swept through the area.
There were at least 12 storm-related deaths in Missouri, 10 in Newton County on the border with Oklahoma, according to Susie Stonner of the Missouri Emergency Management Agency.
"There's a lot of wreckage and overturned vehicles," she said, adding that police had not ruled out finding more victims.
Ten of the dead were killed when a twister struck at Racine near Seneca, Missouri.
Six people were also killed in the small northeastern Oklahoma town of Picher, officials said.
"Basically a 24-block area is virtually destroyed," said Michelann Ooten, a spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=68&objectid=10509492

In the BBC report above, the video shows a man speaking about his experience in hearing a 'rumbling.' They ignored it until the tornado was practically on top of them, "...about 3 to 4 hundred yards away..." THAT is not being 'mindful' of ones reality in relation to the dangerous troposphere we now face in the Spring/Summer of 2008.

PERSONAL SAFETY AWARENESS in regard to weather circumstances should be a priority to people at all times. It is a matter of survival. People are far 'too comfortable' in relation to their daily lives to be UNDER-EDUCATED to the dangers persisting with volatile weather becoming a daily event.

Ludicrous. Nothing short of ludicrous !

Militiamen ambush drives back US patrol in Sadr City (click here)

Residents walk past a burned house in the Shiite enclave of Sadr City in Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, April 22, 2008. Many parents are afraid to send their children to school, and many street markets are almost empty as residents fear being caught in a gun battle or airstrike. Sadr City is the Baghdad stronghold of Iraq's biggest Shiite militia, but it's also home to nearly half the city's population who are caught up in a violent struggle for power. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)


Rep. Jones calls for monthly moment of silence to honor war dead (click here)
May 9, 2008 - 7:34PM
Nikie Mayo
Sun Journal
U.S. Rep. Walter Jones (click here) introduced a resolution this week calling for a monthly moment of silence to honor veterans killed or wounded in the war.
The moment of silence would be held in the U.S. House of Representatives and would also honor the families of those veterans killed or wounded in Iraq or Afghanistan.
It would serve as "a solemn thank you from a grateful nation," Jones said.
"Each of the men and women who wear the uniform in defense of our nation is an American hero," Jones said in a prepared statement. "We must never forget that many members of the U.S. Armed Forces have made the ultimate sacrifice by giving their lives to defend the freedoms that all Americans enjoy today. For their courage and selfless commitment to duty, these service members deserve our gratitude and unwavering support."
The resolution is co-sponsored by U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, a Republican from California who worked in former President Ronald Reagan's administration.
Jones' resolution, introduced Thursday, came on the heels of a North Carolina Republican primary that was watched nationwide.
Some political pundits believed Jones' call for a troop-withdrawal timetable could cost him his 3rd District seat. He defeated his challenger, Joe McLaughlin, garnering about 60 percent of the votes....

Dead American Marines in Baghdad
(Stock photo. Scarey. This is a photo unrelated to the reality of the notice of the dead. This scenario repeats itself over and over everyday in Iraq.)

Names of the Dead (click at title to entry)
Published: May 9, 2008
The Department of Defense has identified 4,066 American service members who have died since the start of the Iraq war. It confirmed the deaths of the following Americans on Thursday:

CASANOVA, Casey L., 22, Lance Cpl., Marines; McComb, Miss.; First Marine Expeditionary Force.

GUZMAN, Miguel A., 21, Cpl., Marines; Norwalk, Calif.; First Marine Expeditionary Force.

KIMPLE, James F., 21, Lance Cpl., Marines; Carroll, Ohio; First Marine Expeditionary Force.

MARTINEZ, Glen E., 31, Sgt., Marines; Boulder, Colo.; First Marine Expeditionary Force.

It would appear the Shia Militias of The Middle East 'got the picture' long time ago.

Ever see that film Fahrenheit 911? I did.

Hezbollah Fighting Escalates in Beirut (click at title to entry)


A sign advertising the availability of a private villa inside the heavily fortified Green Zone is seen in Baghdad, Iraq Saturday, April 19, 2008.

Basra Battles: Barely Half the Story (click here)
Ramzy Baroud
May 09, 2008
When it comes to Iraq, reporters appear intent on omitting or fabricating news....


...Al-Hakim is pushing for what is being termed a super Shia province with its centre in Basra;...


...Sadr is demanding a unified Iraq with a strong central government. Al-Hakim wishes to see a permanent American presence in the country; Sadr insists on a short timetable for withdrawal. The US's major quandary is that Sadr reflects the views of most Iraqis. His possible victory in the south in fair elections could position him as the new nationalist leader, and a unifying force for Iraqis....



Workers mix concrete in the heavily fortified Green Zone in Baghdad, Iraq on Wednesday, April 23, 2008. The U.S. military is pushing a five-year, $5 billion development plan to dramatically transform Baghdad's Green Zone, the secured enclave where the American Embassy and the Iraqi government is based, The Associated Press has learned. (AP Photo/Bradley Brooks)


In this undated image released by the U.S. military, planners envision a Tigris riverfront park in the Green Zone in Baghdad, Iraq. (click here)

Sadr City's neighborhoods are tightly packed, with an estimated 2 million people living in an area of 8 square miles (about 20 sq.km). (Source: DigitalGlobe, 11/03/02) (click here)


Sadr City, Baghdad is enormous. (click here)

Bad Day in Baghdad

The Iraqi Displacement Crisis (click here)
One in five Iraqis have been displaced. According to the UN Refugee Agency and the International Organization for Migration in 2007, almost 5 million Iraqis had been displaced by violence in their country, the vast majority of which had fled since 2003. Over 2.4 million vacated their homes for safer areas within Iraq, up to 1.5 million were living in Syria, and over 1 million refugees were inhabiting Jordan, Iran, Egypt, Lebanon, Turkey and Gulf States. Most Iraqis are determined to be resettled to Europe or North America, and few consider return to Iraq an option. Iraqis have no legal work options in most host countries and are increasingly desperate and in need of humanitarian assistance. They face challenges in finding housing, obtaining food, and have trouble accessing host countries’ health and education systems. Their resources depleted, small numbers of Iraqis have returned to Iraq in the past few months, but Iraq’s struggling government recently warned that it can’t accommodate large numbers of returns. Most of those who returned were subsequently displaced again....


A man looks at debris in the aftermath of an air strike in Hay al-Turath district, southwestern Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, May 7, 2008. According to eyewitnesses, US helicopters fired missiles targeting several gunmen. Three civilians died and seven were wounded in the shelling. (AP Photo/Loay Hameed)


Iraqi Strikes Truce with Forces Loyal to Shi'ite Cleric (click title to entry)
By VOA News 10 May 2008
An aide to radical Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr says the movement has reached a cease-fire with the government to end fighting in Baghdad's Sadr City.
The aide announced the truce Saturday in Najaf. Sheik Salah al-Obeidi says the agreement will take effect on Sunday.
Fighting in Sadr City has intensified since late March, when Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki ordered a crackdown on Shi'ite militias loyal to the anti-American cleric. Hundreds of people have been killed.
In the latest violence, Iraqi medics in Sadr City say 13 people, including women and children, have been killed and 77 others wounded in clashes between U.S. forces and Shi'ite militias since Friday....

Making news out of non-news for the sake of fear tactics...still out and about...but, then...so is bin Laden

In this undated image released by the U.S. military, planners envision an information kiosk and ATM machine in the Green Zone in Baghdad, Iraq.

For Green Zone Iraqis "Life's Good."

In this June 15 2006 file photo, a U.S. soldier at a press conference in Baghdad, Iraq stands by a photograph that purports to show Abu Ayyub al-Masri who is the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq. The Iraqi Defense Ministry spokesman said Thursday, May 8, 2008 that the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq Abu Ayyub al-Masri has been arrested in the northern city of Mosul. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim, File)

Mulkiya Methour gestures as she talks about her son who was arrested by Iraqi security forces, just outside Sadr City in Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, May 6, 2008. Methour's family and four other families fled the violence in Sadr City and took refuge inside a sports club last week. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)



Iraqi civilians flee fighting in Baghdad militia stronghold (click here)
By Selcan Hacaoglu
Associated Press Writer / May 6, 2008
BAGHDAD—A rocket slammed into Baghdad's city hall and another hit a downtown park Tuesday as more frightened civilians fled a Shiite militia stronghold where U.S.-led forces are locked in fierce street battles.
more stories like this
The American push in the Sadr City district -- launched after an Iraqi government crackdown on armed Shiite groups began in late March -- is trying to weaken the militia grip in a key corner of Baghdad and disrupt rocket and mortar strikes on the U.S.-protected Green Zone.
But fresh salvos of rockets from militants arced over the city, wounding at least 16 people and drawing U.S. retaliation that escalated civilian panic and flight to safer areas.
One rocket -- apparently aimed at the Green Zone -- blasted the nearby city hall. Three 122 mm rockets hit parts of central Baghdad, including destroying some playground equipment in a park. An Iraqi police station was damaged by a rocket that failed to detonate, the U.S. military said....

In this undated image released by the U.S. military, planners envision the "Tigris Woods Golf and Country Club" in the Green Zone in Baghdad, Iraq.

The front that caused the death in North Carolina is easy to discern in this Water Vapor Satellite Image (click for 12 hour loop)

A damaged vehicle sits in the Mississippi Department of Transportation parking lot surrounded by twisted metal after a line of sever weather moved through the area Thursday, May 8, 2008, in Tupelo Miss. A number of northeast Mississippi counties and portions of northwest Alabama were under tornado watches or warnings until midafternoon Thursday. (AP Photo/Ryan Moore)


May 9, 2008

0930z

UNISYS Water Vapor Satellite of USA




Tornado knocks vehicles around in N. Carolina, kills 1 (click here)
1 hour ago
GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — Authorities were waiting for daylight early Friday so they could begin assessing the damage from a reported tornado that killed one person and injured three others in central North Carolina.
What law enforcement officers said was a tornado touched down on the outskirts of Greensboro late Thursday as severe storms swept across the Southeast, damaging homes and businesses in at least three other states.
An apparent tornado also wrecked a shopping area in Mississippi and strong winds flipped a mobile home in Alabama. In south-central Tennessee, at least four homes and a few barns were damaged.
The person killed was in a small truck that overturned in a parking lot in a parking lot west of Greensboro, said Alan Perdue, emergency services director for Guilford County. He did not have other details.
The storm also knocked down a wall at a distributing business, sending one person to the hospital, Perdue said. Two others were hurt while in vehicles, but Perdue said he did not know what happened. None of the injuries were considered life threatening.
The Winston-Salem Journal quoted the North Carolina Highway Patrol as saying the storm blew three tractor-trailers off Interstate 40....


School systems in Alabama release students early because of storms (click here)
Associated Press - May 9, 2008 6:14 AM ET
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) - A line of severe storms that swept aross the Southeast damaged homes and businesses in at least four states, including Alabama.
Authorities say one person was killed and three injured by a tornado in North Carolina.
An apparent tornado wrecked a shopping area in Mississippi and strong winds flipped a mobile home in Alabama yesterday. In south-central Tennessee, at least four homes and a few barns were damaged.
In Alabama, at least 15 school systems released students early, while others held students late as squalls passed. Winds blew a piece of metal roofing off Hamilton High School, about 90 miles northwest of Birmingham.
There were no confirmed reports of tornadoes in Alabama. But the emergency management director in Lauderdale County, George Grabryan, says winds gusting up to 60 miles an hour flipped a mobile home. A house and a building in the rural county also were damaged.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Olmert suspected of accepting illicit funds from U.S. businessman

Bush Calls Democracy Terror's Antidote (click here)
By Jim VandeHei
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, March 9, 2005; Page A16
President Bush said yesterday a fledgling democratic movement that he sees spreading through the Middle East is essential to defeating terrorism, and warned Syria and Iran against thwarting the "momentum of freedom" and fomenting instability in the region.
"The chances of democratic progress in the broader Middle East have seemed frozen in place for decades," Bush said at the National Defense University at Fort McNair. "Yet, at last, clearly and suddenly, the thaw has begun."...

So what is so different from Baghdad? Bush/Cheney policies are nothing but rhetorical.



Fighting between Hezbollah fighters and pro-government gunmen continued for a third day on Friday. (click here)

Fighting rocks Beirut; Hizbollah group defiant (click here)
BEIRUT (Reuters) - Fierce clashes raged in Beirut on Thursday after Hizbollah said the Lebanese government had declared war by targeting its communications network.
Fighters from Hizbollah and the allied Amal group exchanged assault rifle fire and rocket-propelled grenades with pro-government gunmen in several areas of the capital in the worst domestic fighting since the 1975-90 civil war.
Security sources said at least one person was killed and eight were wounded in the fighting that also set several shops and cars on fire.
Hizbollah launched a new street campaign on Wednesday, piling pressure on the government after it declared the network illegal and removed the head of airport security, a figure close to the group, from his post.
Supporters of Hizbollah and its allies have blocked roads leading to the airport-Lebanon's only air link to the outside world-and other main streets, paralysing much of the capital.
The airport was barely functioning with only a few flights arriving and taking off, airport officials said...

The reason the Junta in Myanmar is resisting any entrance by other countries is due to the instability to even its 'wealth' markets. Myanmar supplies to the world markets are based in the management of natural resources including it's rice fields and forests where exports serve millions around the world. The devastation to the landscape of Myanmar leaves its controlling government at a loss to know where its best to place its security forces to protect the nation's resources that are left. The world needs to facilitate the Myanmar's governments intelligence gathering to secure the country while allowing relief supplies to enter along with aide workers. I do believe Russia has a better rapport with the Myanmar than the West.

Obviously any intelligence supplied to The Middle East by The West, regarding groups involved with power struggles has been unable to stem any violence or overthrow. The world stability is in question and Russia is going to have to come front and center to improve the stability of regions globally. I don't know any other government can or will act to CAUSE stability rather than greater unrest. Russia must address the UN Security Council if not the General Assembly as an ally to Saudi Arabia in reaching conclusions about the region.

Saudi Arabia Backs Extraordinary Arab League Meeting on Lebanon (click here)

Arab News
JEDDAH, 9 May 2008 — Saudi Arabia yesterday supported the need for an extraordinary Arab League meeting on Lebanon in Cairo, an official source at the Foreign Ministry said. The Kingdom had earlier warned Lebanese groups that any escalation of violence in their country would only benefit external extremist forces, the Saudi Press Agency said quoting an official source.
“The Kingdom urges the groups behind the escalation to reconsider their position, and to realize that turmoil in Lebanon will not bring victory to any party except extremist external forces.”
These forces “are still hindering every sincere and honest effort to end the political crisis in Lebanon,” the Kingdom said, and urged Lebanese factions to listen to the voice of reason and give top priority to their country’s interests.
Meanwhile, the Gulf Cooperation Council yesterday expressed deep concern over the latest developments in Lebanon and urged warring Lebanese groups for restraint.
Abdul Rahman Al-Attiyah, secretary-general of the GCC, called upon the Lebanese groups to exert sincere efforts to forge unity in order to solve the present crisis. “You have to tackle the situation with wisdom, which is essential to solve problems.”

Electric shock kills - Now minor confrontations with police result in a Death Sentence - This is the West's Answer to Due Process

Former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik, left, speaks at the White House last week. Kerik made $6.7 million by selling stock given him by Taser International.

Kerik made millions from agency contractor (click here)
Homeland Security nominee sat on board of stun-gun maker
updated 10:20 a.m. ET, Thurs., Dec. 9, 2004
WASHINGTON - Bernard Kerik, President Bush's choice to run the Homeland Security Department, made $6.2 million by exercising stock options he received from a company that sold stun guns to the department — and seeks more business with it.
Taser International was one of many companies that received consulting advice from Kerik after he left his job as New York City police commissioner in 2001, when he was earning $150,500 a year. Kerik remains on Taser's board of directors, although the company and the White House said he planned to sever the relationship.
Partnering with former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and also operating independently, Kerik has had business arrangements with manufacturers of prescription drugs, computer software and bulletproof materials, as well as companies selling nuclear power, telephone service, insurance and security advice for Americans working abroad....

Thelondondailynews.com has learned that yesterday's gunman in Chelsea died as a result of being tasered - and not from a bullet wound.

Chelsea shooter was 'tasered to death' (click title above)
According to senior police sources, barrister Mark Saunders, 32, died at the scene after being tasered by specialist officers.
Original explanation
It was believed originally that the former army solider died either from his own bullet or one fired by CO19 firearms officers, involved in their first fatal firefight since the death of Jean Charles de Menezes.
We contacted the Independent Police Complaints Commission who is investigating the circumstances of Mr Saunders death, and they refused to comment one way or the other until a full post mortem was carried out.
'Intended to detain'
Our source also revealed that officers had intended to only 'detain' the individual. There were reports of an exchange of fire on the streets and later inside the man’s home when police stormed the barricaded property. Four explosions were later heard believed to be smoke or stun grenades bringing the five hour siege to an end.
Controversial 'non lethal' weapons
The use of police tasers have been criticised after several deaths in America seemingly linked to the devices use. Just last week media access was given to a police pilot scheme to widen their use in England and Wales. The taser is intended to be a non lethal way of dealing with dangerous situations.
Previously only a trained officer could use the weapons, but under new laws an officer can carry the shock devices after only two days training. Amnesty International called it the start of a "slippery slope".


Taser inquiry hears police need training and weapon needs more study (click here)
By TERRI THEODORE The Canadian Press
Wed. May 7 - 6:34 PM
VANCOUVER — Police across North American have earned the moniker ``psychiatrists in blue,'' for their constant intervention with the mentally ill.It's for that reason that the Canadian Medical Health Association implored the head of B.C.'s Taser inquiry to convince police to talk more and use their Taser less.
``We certainly recognize that police in British Columbia, actually across North America, are increasingly first responders to mental-health crises,'' said the association's Camia Weaver.
``There's no doubt they have become the front-line mental health workers in recent years.''
She told inquiry Commissioner Thomas Braidwood it's not a position the police want to have, but it's a reality.
The statistics show that over 30 per cent of people in B.C. who are receiving mental health services got there by having some kind confrontation with police first....


Taser-related deaths top 100 (click here)
Fri, 01 Apr 2005 02:15:16 -0600
There were 103 Taser stun gun-related deaths in the United States and Canada between June 2001 and March 2005, according to an Amnesty International report.
In the first three months of this year, there were 13 Taser-related deaths - compared with six in the same period last year, the report said.
The stun guns have been touted as less lethal than other ways of subduing combative people in high-risk situations, but Tasers have come under increasing scrutiny as a number of deaths have been blamed, at least partially, on the devices.
"No confrontation is risk-free. The Taser is the safest way to end violent confrontations for law enforcement," Taser International President Tom Smith said.
The report challenged Taser's claims that the stun guns had saved more than 6,000 lives.
"Taser International wildly exaggerates the number of incidents in which the use of a Taser resulted in a life saved," the report said.
Smith said the company's statistics were conservative and based on fact.
"This is just a further example of how out of touch this organisation (Amnesty International) is with the law enforcement community," Smith said.
Stun guns produced by Scottsdale-based Taser are used by more than 6,000 law enforcement agencies worldwide.

Myanmar cyclone death toll soars past 22,000: state radio

Banyan Trees


Giant Banyan Trees with aerial roots

Banyan Tree with aerial roots

Banyan Tree with aerial roots

A Myanmar Buddhist Monk makes his way past a fallen tree following a devastating cyclone, Sunday, May 4, 2008, in Yangon. The death toll from the cyclone has risen to almost 4,000, a Myanmar state radio station has said. The radio station broadcasting from the country's capital Naypyitaw said Monday that almost 3,000 more people are unaccounted for in a single town in the country's low-lying Irrawaddy River delta area. (AP Photo/Barry Broman)

April 15, 2008

Cyclone Nargis (click here)

May 5, 2008

The littel coastal country called Myanmar was also hit with sea level rise when the cyclone landed. This is a completelly flooded area and the body count, no different than the tsunami, will never be completely realized because bodies have been washed out to sea.

This is a biologically sensitive area where species are being demised due to a turbulent troposhere as I write this. There needs to be a full dispatch of scientists to assess the damage and discover the economic impact from the biotic loss of the region.

There are tree species in Myanmar that are used on the global cosmetics market. There is huge economic losses due to this cyclone.

Conservationists need to start immediately to restore the biotic content of the devastated area, otherwise, there will be vast impoverishment of the people surviving this tragedy.