THE 'USA' MINIMALIST REALITY - It's only about 20 levee breaks that have cost people life and limb to improve the potential flooding 'downstream.'

White House invokes executive privilege in EPA inquiry (click here)
The Bush administration refuses to turn over subpoenaed documents related to the agency's decision to prevent California from enacting stricter emissions standards than the federal government.
By Richard Simon, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
7:26 PM PDT, June 20, 2008
...The administration's claim of executive privilege is the latest twist in the escalating legal and political battle over California's efforts to implement its own law combating global warming. Critics of the EPA decision contend that it was based on politics, not science or the law....


Towboat Senior Deckhand Al Davis, right, and Junior Deck Hand Randy Howard, left, work on securing barges they anchored earlier on Mississippi River the near Quincy, Ill., Monday, June 16, 2008. The barges which contain soybeans and corn will be anchored in the river until the flood waters recede. The Mississippi River is closed to barge traffic due to flood conditions that have destroyed homes and thousands of acres of corn and soybeans. (AP Photo/Seth Perlman)

After all, the dead of this country, whether it is in Iraq or domestically serve a purpose to their loss. The DEAD FOLKS in the Midwest have suffered the consequences so those 'DOWNSTREAM' have a better outcome after all !

It must be God's Plan after all. I mean George Walker Bush and John McCain would know best about that, right?

How ludicrous does this have to get? What will it take finally for Bush and McCain to pull the plug on oil exploration and begin to retool the nation's infrastructure to stop this travesty called GOVERNMENT !

I tell you what, rather than 'deal with the issue' of Human Induced Global Warming, let's just blame this mess on The Army Corp of Engineers that don't have the RIGHT to do what's necessary because the USA has a Government under Republican Domination for Decades that have denied the issue of Carbon Dioxide Pollution right up to the last 'go round' in the Senate recently. So, let's make the Army Corp the SCAPEGOAT to this Republican travesty and forget about those dead. I mean Bush and Cheney can ignore over 4000 American soldiers in an illegal war in Iraq they can certainly ignore trivial domestic losses due to Human Induced Global Warming. Oh, I forgot. There is no such thing as Global Warming and Carbon Dixoide could never be a toxic gas !

Neocons are simply amazing people. They believe that 'control' of the media and the 'political spin' will stop any reality handed them. Well, it would seem THIS ACT OF GOD has its own idea of reality and a nation now faced with potential food short falls and escalating food costs have a lot to answer for when in fact, IT AIN'T OVER !

13 Dead In Midwest Floods; Hundreds Flee (click here)
Flash Flood Warnings Posted From Texas To Pennsylvania; At Least 3 People Missing
(CBS/AP) Residents of low-lying towns stacked sandbags or grabbed belongings and evacuated Wednesday after a foot of rain pushed rivers and creeks out of their banks in the nation's midsection. At least 13 deaths had been linked to the weather, and three people were missing. Record or near-record flood crests were forecast at several towns in Missouri. Flooding was reported in large areas of Arkansas and parts of southern Illinois, southern Indiana and southwestern Ohio, and schools were closed in parts of western Kentucky because of flooded roads. "We've got water rising everywhere," said Jeff Korb, president of the Vanderbugh County, Ind., commissioners. The National Weather Service posted flood and flash flood warnings from Texas to Pennsylvania....


Battle to save farmland at fever pitch (click here)
By Jeffrey Meitrodt and Tim Jones, Tribune correspondents
6:18 PM PDT, June 18, 2008
URSA, Ill. -- Despite a history of heart problems, Larry Ippensen lifted shovel after shovel of sand Wednesday afternoon with scraped and sunburned hands in a desperate sandbagging effort to save his 160-acre family farm from a nearby faltering levee."If the levee goes, my crop is gone," said Ippensen, 62, who spent more than five hours filling bags with his two adult children and a 12-year-old grandson.
For miles around Ippensen's corn and soybean farm, the Mississippi River – raging at all-time flood highs or near them – devoured thousands of acres of prime farmland. At least nine levees were overrun Wednesday alone and more than 20 in recent days....

FEMA and The Farmer's Home Administration AIN'T GOT ENOUGH MONEY to reconstruct the Agricultural Infrastructure of the USA, yet alone rebuild levees. Do you have the remotest idea of the monies needed to supply 'loans' to farmers that have lost crops? Plenty. Do you know the monies approved for the illegal war in Iraq by the House today? Outrageous. Where are the priorities to a nation abandoned by it's Executive Branch to the ravages of corporate profits and dealings? The 'sink hole' called the USA Treasury keeps getting deeper and deeper and deeper and we haven't seen any substantial impeachment hearings yet. Amazing. And Wall Street thought all they had to do was restructure mortgages.

What.

A.

Joke !

And of course all this flooding was a complete surprise to the Executive Branch.

EXCEPT.

FOR THE COMPLETE SURPRISE LAST YEAR !

Central U.S. staggers from storm punches (click here)
updated 10:25 p.m. ET
Tues., Aug. 21, 2007
Ohio latest area to see new flooding; death toll reaches 22
RUSHFORD, Minn. - Water-weary residents across the Midwest began counting their losses Tuesday as damage estimates from this weekend’s deadly flash floods climbed into the tens of millions.
The rain moved into Ohio, where roads flooded, schools canceled classes and residents were rescued from flooded homes by boats.
The death toll from the two storm systems — one in the Upper Midwest and the remnants of Tropical Storm Erin in Texas and Oklahoma — climbed to 22 when searchers found the body of a man tangled in a tree about four miles from his wrecked, upside-down car near a creek south of Lewiston, Minn....

Regardless of the 'insurance' Bush has given to their Red State Agricultural Community, that isn't going to return the crop losses or a reasonable food policy for the people of the USA ! Anyone hungry or losing their homes due to food prices ?

You know its a darn shame that the USA's farmers will end up 'with relief' money when the cost of agricultural products, especially biofuel products, are going through the roof. Amazing. The 'very product' that would serve to bring farmers OUT OF LONG STANDING DEBT, is being washed away along with the soil. Darn shame.

Agricultural Assistance Act of 2007 (click here)

On May 25, 2007, President Bush signed into law the "U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans' Care, Katrina Recovery, and Iraq Accountability Appropriations Act, 2007" (2007 Act).

The 2007 Act provides approximately $3 billion in agricultural disaster aid for America's farmers and ranchers. The aid will cover crop losses, livestock and feed losses, emergency conservation practices and dairy losses. The Act also extends the Emergency Forestry Conservation Reserve Program (EFCRP) and the Milk Income Loss Contract (MILC) program.

This page serves as a clearinghouse for information about the farm programs addressed in the 2007 Act....

No, they can't !

Mistakes ? Mistakes ? That is what they call it when they expose a CIA agent for political purposes? A Mistake?

"W"rong !

A mistake is something one takes care of with "White Out." This is NOT a mistake !

Loyalty...In heart I am a public servant...the mistakes this White House made...I do not know if there was a crime committed...nor do I know if there was an attempt…to engage in a cover up during the investigation…I do know it was wrong to reveal her identity because it compromised the identity of a covert official for political reasons. I regret I played a role, however unintentionally in relaying false information to the public about it…

I made my donation today. What about you? The man is living history. We can change the face of this nation. "Yes We Can."

Republicans have had their way for far too long. The DNC has been suffering from the battle for the nomination and our future President made the right decision. He cannot rely on 'the system' and RISK the future of our country.

We are taking back our country our own way !

Denver short $11.6M in raising funds for DNC (click here)

Denver Business Journal - by Noelle Leavitt

The Denver 2008 Host Committee revealed Monday that it's short $11.6 million in its fund-raising efforts for the Democratic National Convention that's slated to hit Denver in roughly 10 weeks.
The host committee is under contract with the Democratic National Party to raise $40.6 million by June 16. The committee said that it currently has $29 million in the bank.
"We don't want to make excuses," said Chris Lopez, spokesman for the host committee. "We have another couple of months to finish our fund-raising efforts."
Lopez said that Colorado congressmen, senators, Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper and various organizations are pulling together -- now more than ever -- to raise the $11.6 million that's needed to meet the fund-raising benchmark before the convention in August.
"I don't know that we see it as a shortfall," Lopez said, adding that when the fund-raising deadlines were set, no one could have predicted a hot primary race. The slumping economy also doesn't help, he said.
"We are asking leaders across Denver in securing donations of $52.80," Lopez said.

Obama says no to public financing; McCain throws hissy fit (click here)

Given Barack Obama's astronomical fundraising numbers, it was only a matter of time before he decided to eschew public funds to finance his campaign. From today's Times:
Democrat Barack Obama today rejected public financing for his presidential campaign, changing an earlier stand and becoming the first major party candidate to drop out of the system since it began after the Watergate scandal....Early in the primary season, Obama had said he would use public financing if his Republican opponent did. But that was before the presumptive Democratic nominee harnessed the Internet and became a fund-raising powerhouse.
This move not only makes Obama the first major candidate in more than 30 years to reject public funding (which forbids candidates from raising private funds), but also goes back on his very public indications he would agree to public funding....

The weather in Antarctica (Crystal Ice Chime) is cold, but, not nearly as cold as it should be. Not in complete darkness.

The shortest day of the year in Antarctica occurs tonight at 7:59 PM EDT. From here out for another year the days get longer in the Southern Hemisphere and light will return to the Ice Continent.


Climate change threat to whales: study (click here)
June 19, 2008 - 4:51PM
The effect of climate change on the ecology of krill and whales in the Southern Ocean urgently needs monitoring, a group of Australian scientists warn.
The Australian Antarctic Division scientists say the effects of climate change on the sea ice that breeds krill which feeds whales can no longer be ignored.
"It is a matter of urgency that long-term studies are initiated to examine variability and change at all trophic levels in the Southern Ocean ecosystem to reduce uncertainty and to improve predictive power," Stephen Nicol, Anthony Worby and Rebecca Leaper say in their paper published on Thursday in the journal Marine and Freshwater Research.
Dr Worby on Thursday told AAP that, basically, less sea ice means less krill and less krill could also mean fewer whales.
The massive declines in Arctic sea ice has not been repeated in Antarctica but the Antarctic Peninsula is one of the most rapidly warming areas on the globe, he said.
"The concern is that if we have a significant decline in the amount of sea ice around Antarctica what does that mean for the krill habitat and what does that mean for whale populations," he said.
The study was particularly concerned with the ecological effects of climate change on baleen whales and the reproduction of krill, the Southern Ocean staple which feeds and breeds under the sea ice.
Sea ice is projected to shrink in the Arctic and Antarctic under all future emissions scenarios, the study says.
If the sea ice environment changes and if this is associated with changes in oceanic circulation, then it will undoubtedly affect the ecosystems on which predators such as baleen whales depend, the study says.
There is now unequivocal evidence of long-term changes in the physical environment of the Antarctic region that are thought to have a dominant effect on biological productivity in the sea ice zone, it says.
"Understanding the changes occurring in Southern Ocean ecosystems will require concerted integrated studies in the future, and not a little ingenuity," it says.

Like I said, Republicans practice 'good politics' NOT 'good policy.'

Weather Underground Launches Online Flood Alert Product (click here)
...Each river observation is color coordinated to reflect its dry/wet percentile and users can click on each observation point to view data and graphs that display Flow Rate, Percentile, Current Stage, Forecast Stage and Flood Stage. Flood Alert symbols will appear on every river icon whenever a river is in danger of flooding....

Just because there are media announcements about receding water levels doesn't truly indicate 'good news.' A water level can recede if there is breach of a levee elsewhere and with the sustained weather patterns currently over Mid-continent USA, there is every indication this is only the beginning to the tragic reality that has been an agriculturally rich area of the USA. The agriculturally rich soils in this region of the country, historically, didn't get there by mistake.


June 16, 2008
Nauvoo, Illinois
Photographer states :: Statement as of 9:35 PM CDT on June 16, 2008 ... Flood Warning remains in effect until further notice... The Flood Warning continues for the Mississippi River at Keokuk ld19. * Until further notice. *
At 8:00 PM Monday the stage was 26.0 feet... and falling. * Major flooding is occurring and record flooding is forecast. * Recent activity... the river is currently falling due to a levee failure near Gregory Landing. * Flood stage is 16 feet. * Forecast... rise to 28.4 feet
Wednesday evening... then begin falling. * Impact... at 27 feet... water affects residences in Nauvoo and reaches the top of the levee protecting the historical Nauvoo house.
935 PM CDT Mon Jun 16 2008 ... Flood Warning remains in effect until further notice... The Flood Warning continues for the Mississippi River at Burlington. * Until further notice. *
At 9:00 PM Monday the stage was 25.4 feet... and rising. * Record flooding is occurring. * Flood stage is 15 feet. * Forecast... rise to 26.0 feet
Tuesday evening... then begin falling. * Impact... at 26 feet... water reaches the top of the Gulfport town levee.


June 16, 2008
Montrose, Iowa
Photographer states :: I am trying to get back from a riverfront home that I am trying to keep the pumps running at. This was a well traveled road.


Some residents have lost their homes altogether.

Something for everyone, is the slogan of the RNC. To that end McCain has clarified his struggle with 'both sides of his mouth.'

John McCain open to drilling offshore, not in Arctic Refuge (click here with video)
WASHINGTON -- Sen. John McCain's call today to lift a 27-year federal moratorium on new oil and gas drilling along the nation's coastline angered many in the environmental community and put him at odds with several key Republican governors....

Lacking any 'orginal' thinking to his administration and struggling to return legitimacy to the Republican Party after a gloriously failed 8 years and a war misguided and exploitive, Bush is throwing in with McCain which leads me to wonder why he was never his first choice for Vice President. Somehow this is most appropriate to reflect on with an article from Bloomberg.

Any measure such as this is simply a desperate act. The oil that is offshore wouldn't reach the American public, if at all, for at least six to eight years. It is NOT a 'fix' to the current crisis and will serve no purpose to reduce oil prices or availablity today. This is simply politics, bad politics and is why Bush encouraged the falsely inflated prices to Americans in the first place. It is why the national oil reserve has been topped off over and over and over again even in the face of climbing prices. It was the high prices and economic stress this administration and McCain has wanted all along to remove the constraints on offshore oil drilling the American people have demanded for decades.

Just more 'politics without purpose' and not 'policy with results.' Old ideas with age old outcomes. In fact, the people of this planet need to come to terms with the reality that 'fossil fuel' use is toxic to their lives. They need to realize that THEY have to become 'user friendly' if they want their children to have a sustainable lifestyle. It will take a change in the DC Regime in order to achieve it. The infrastructure of the USA has to be 'retooled' including goverment empowerment in transporation and energy. It is unattainable for the private sector to achieve profound change in direction of economics without government investment and laws that enforce it.

I am sure when it comes to realizing the weather patterns of the USA have profoundly changed brought on my Climate Change, there is a cute little political anecdote that can be gleened about Noah, but, the profound reality is that the USA has 'shot itself in the foot' when it comes to its economy and it is time to be accountable to 'the little people' and not to 'big oil.'


Harvesting big oil profits which resulted at the cost of the American ecoonomy including an illegal war into Iraq, seems right and the taxes to them instead of subsidies should provide for much needed restructuring of the American economy and lifestyle. The USA is the world's largest contributor to Greenhouse Gases, it is time to now become the economic innovator and inspiration to a world in need of relief from the Climate Crisis.

McCain is out for a 'short term' political bounce and not the best interest of the people of this country. Somehow in that misconstrued thinking of John McCain, everyone will 'buy into' a conservation effort sustained in ANWR which is now guaranteed to the Polar Bear, while greedily diving into ANY and ALL oil that can be obtained offshore of the USA. That oil is best viewed as a matter of National Security and left for generations to come with an Earth recovered from its tragic outcome at the hand of Republicans.

Bush Will Urge Congress to Lift Offshore Oil Drilling Ban (click here)
By Holly Rosenkrantz
June 18 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush today will urge Congress to lift the ban on offshore oil drilling, a move that is in line with a similar push by Republican presidential candidate John McCain.
``With gasoline now over $4 a gallon, tomorrow he will explicitly call on Congress to pass legislation lifting the congressional ban,'' White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said yesterday. ``He wants to work with states to determine where offshore drilling should occur, and also for the federal government to share revenues with the states.''
Democrats have long opposed efforts by Republicans to end the ban on offshore drilling that has existed in some areas since 1981.
Arizona Senator McCain, 71, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, made a similar call for offshore oil drilling yesterday, even as he promised a break from the energy policies of the Bush administration. Illinois Senator Barack Obama, 46, the presumptive Democratic nominee, said there is no evidence that lifting the ban on oil drilling would provide relief to consumers.
``This is not something that is going to give relief now, and it's not a long-term solution,'' Obama said yesterday....


Officials have declared most of Iowa a disaster zone after it was swamped by severe flooding following days of heavy rain.

Thunderstorms, hail may hit this evening

June 18, 2008
0030z
UNISYS Enhanced Infrared GOES East Satellite (12 hour loop click here)

There is also a 'hot spot' off the east coast of North Carolina.


June 17, 2008
0015z
UNISYS Infrared Satellite of Northeast (12 hour loop click here)

The rotation system over the Great Lakes extends to the Eastern Seaboard.


June 16, 2008
Canton, Massachusetts
Photographer states :: boston costline as the storm comes in

June 16, 2008 12:55 PM
By Globe Staff
A cold front rumbling east may bring violent thunderstorms to metropolitan Boston early this evening, creating the potential for large hail and winds that could reach 25 to 35 miles per hour.
A hazardous weather outlook is in effect for all of Southern New England, with the greatest likelihood for thunderstorms in Western and Central Massachusetts. There is the potential that some intense, scattered storms may produce large hail and down tree limbs after 4 p.m. in Lawrence, Fall River, and Boston. However, the low clouds and fog over the coast may take some of the bite out of the storm, reducing the threat of thunder and lighting to simple rain.
"The rest of the week we are going to have this unsettled, showery kind of pattern," said Charlie Foley, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Taunton.
The long-term forecast shows a chance of rain and thunderstorms every day this week.


County weathers outages, flooding (click here)
By Amy Carr, Berkshire Eagle Staff
Article Last Updated: 06/17/2008 08:01:51 AM EDT
Tuesday, June 17A severe thunderstorm barreled across the county yesterday, causing power outages and flooding, and toppling trees.
An estimated 1,000 residents in Lenox lost power for a brief period as the storm caused a small fire on the top of a utility pole on East Street, according to National Grid spokeswoman Amy Atwood. The fire was quickly put out, and power was restored in under five minutes.
Outages were reported throughout the county by Western Massachusetts Electric Co. As of press time, according to the WMECO Web site, the following number of customers were without power: Becket, 1; Dalton, 48; Hinsdale, 3; Lanesborough, 45; Lee, 3; Otis, 30; Pittsfield, 53; and Windsor, 1.
According to the National Weather Service in Albany, the thunderstorm brought periods of large hail, high wind gusts and rain totaling 1 to 2 inches.
More than 2,500 customers were without electricity after severe thunderstorms rolled through eastern New York, knocking down trees and power lines and pelting some areas with popcorn-size hail. Hail fell in the Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse areas as well as the Hudson Valley.
Pittsfield Police reported downed wires and trees resulting from the storm. Wires fell at 356 Wahconah St., but the scene was quickly cleared by police. The wind toppled trees at the intersection of Peck's Road and Dan Casey Memorial Drive, on Cheshire Road and at Oak Hills Apartments on Crane Avenue....

Does anyone recognize this facility? One might notice the river nearby. (Note facility at end of entry.)

What would happen if Katrina arrived over Iowa?

June 15, 2008
Alexandria, Missouri
Photographer states :: From the bridge at the IA/MO state line it does not look like much is left.

This picture below was very interesting to me.
This cloud formation is not unusual to me.
It is obviously a 'rotation system.'
However, it is remarkably similar to that of a hurricane.
Those periphery clouds are similar to those that have arrived previous to any hurricane over Wrightsville Beach, NC. The clouds are frequently larger and longer, but, very similar in formation.
Considering the high winds and the high rain events, the 'lack' of Atlantic storms there might be a climate change. What literally might be occurring are 'land based hurricanes.' High temperature along with high moisture content where Arctic and Equatorial air meet could conceivably spawn the dynamics on a 'mini-scale' of what is normally found over warm Atlantic Ocean waters.
After all, hurricanes occur over surface waters, not deep ocean currents. Where those dynamics can be mimicked over land, why shouldn't there be the manifestation of similar content?


June 15, 2008
Anderson, Indiana
Photographer states :: This was a wind event that knocked out our power for about 3 hours.


Floods in Iowa (click here). Previous to the flooding, the land was somewhat parched. Within the last year, Iowa was impacted by drought (click here). However, with the floods, the lack of drought means little as the 'agricultural' planting season is ending. Some of the most productive agricultural land in the USA is in Iowa, Indiana and Illinois.


June 17, 2008
2230z
UNISYS Water Vapor Satellite of North and West Hemisphere (click here for 12 hour loop)


June 17, 2008
2230z
Water Vapor Satellite of USA and Southern Canada (click here)


Floods in Indiana, Illinois (click here) - the change from May 28, 2008 and June 10, 2008 in satellite images from NASA.

One might ask, "What happened to all the tornadoes?"

Well, the rains were an equivalent to 'cooling.' The weather pattern has 'calmed down' a bit because Mid-Continent is currently cooler than before. Once the surface waters 'run off' and 'burn off;' the storms and tornadoes could begin again.

The 'interim' coolness provides a wider 'band' of area between Arctic cold air and Equatorial hot air. There is however a forming vortex forming at the USA - Canada border near the Great Lakes which illustrates still a disparity in 'stable' tropospheric conditions.


Above is the map illustrating all the guages of the USA.
143 Locations in Flood (click here)
Of concern is the current record at Morgan City, Louisiana which is currently recording 4.88 feet above flood stage (click here).


The Cresting Waters of the Mississippi River System (click here)

NRC Monitoring Unusual Event at Duane Arnold Nuclear Plant (click here)
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission Region III office in Lisle, Illinois, has activated its Incident Response Center to monitor an Unusual Event declared at the Duane Arnold Nuclear Plant triggered by the loss of three major sources of telecommunications at the station due to rising floodwaters. The plant, operated by FPL Energy, is located in Palo, Iowa.
The plant is in a stable condition at 100 percent power. There have been no unplanned radioactive releases. State and local officials have been informed.
The commercial telephone lines, the federal telephone system and the microwave communication system were lost due to flooding in the area of the plant. Communications with the NRC and other local, state and federal agencies are currently maintained though the use of satellite phones and cellular phones....


Duane Arnold Nuclear Power Facility (click here).
From every indication I can see, this is a matter of a minor chance of flooding disaffecting the facility. It is a 'zero' elevation above the river. There is no flood protections for the facility.

When the Federal Government states 'There is no such thing as Global Warming and Carbon Dixoide could never be a toxic gas,' this is the type of LACK OF PREPAREDNESS the nation faces due to lack of funding and realistic research to PROVIDE the USA with a workable HOMELAND SECURITY for it's NATIONAL DEFENSE !

Recognizing National Emergencies BEFORE they happen is key to a strong National Defense. Hello? Disregarding science is NOT an option so much as a 'theology.'


Flooding around the state (click title to entry - thank you)

...PALO: A small army of volunteers filled sandbags here Tuesday as they braced for record flooding on the Cedar River that threatens to engulf about four-fifths of this Linn County town of 900. Levels are expected to exceed 1993 flooding.

Jo Ellen Marconi, a single mother of twins, feverishly worked until 5 a.m. Tuesday trying to move her computer and other property from the lower level of her three-level home.

"Everybody here is concerned. They say it is the worst in 50 years. I don't know what to expect," Marconi said.

The Duane Arnold Nuclear Energy Center, Iowa's only nuclear power plant, is located in Palo, about nine miles northwest of Cedar Rapids. Linn County Sheriff Donald Zeller said the nuclear plant is not in danger of being flooded and the plant has made preparations to ensure there will be sufficient workers to safely operate the facility....

Mike has got a great message today. The future President Obama is seeking to revitalize the auto industry. Nice.

..."Not only is it impossible to turn back the tide of globalization, but efforts to do so can make us worse off," the Illinois senator told a crowd of more than 1,000 at Kettering University in Flint that cheered loudly when he talked of his plans for universal health insurance, grants for students to attend college and more support for research and development....

Obama: Auto industry must look to fuel-efficient vehicles (click here)
May 7, 2007
BY COREY WILLIAMS Associated Press
DETROIT -- Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said Monday that U.S. energy policy must change in order to help domestic automakers answer the rising global demand for fuel-efficient vehicles.
''For years, while foreign competitors were investing in more fuel-efficient technology for their vehicles, American automakers were spending their time investing in bigger, faster cars,'' the Illinois senator told Detroit business and political leaders.
Obama said his plan encourages domestic automakers to make fuel-efficient hybrid vehicles by giving them health care assistance for retirees. Federal financial assistance would cover 10 percent -- up to $7 billion -- of automakers' annual legacy health care costs through 2017, under Obama's plan, which would require automakers to invest at least half of their health care savings into technology to produce fuel-efficient cars.
As a second choice, Obama's plan would provide $3 billion to automakers over 10 years to help retool plants to make fuel-efficient cars and trucks....

...and the rich keep getting richer and the poor keep getting poorer...Was McCain a member of Cheney's Energy Committee? Just curious.

McCain: Lift the ban on offshore oil drilling (click here)

ARLINGTON, Va. -- Sen. John McCain said Monday the federal moratorium on offshore oil and gas drilling should be lifted, and individual states given the right to pursue energy exploration in waters near their own coasts.
With gasoline prices rising and the United States chronically dependent on foreign oil, the Republican presidential contender said his proposal would "be very helpful in the short term resolving our energy crisis."
McCain also suggested giving the states incentives, including a greater share of royalties paid by companies that drill for oil, as an incentive to permit exploration.
Asked how far offshore states should be given control of drilling rights, he said that was a matter for negotiation....

"Alaskans want to drill for oil..."

But.

McCain, the "Federalist" opposes drilling in the Arctic. However, McCain will say States have the right to determine whether they drill or not.

How does a Federalist that oppose drilling in the Arctic CONTROL 'one state' that is Alaska from drilling in the Arctic?

It isn't possible. If all bans are removed from drilling offshore, there is no discriminating between states. McCain does not have good policies so much as good politics.

The weather at Glacier Bay National Park (Cyrstal Wind Chime) is warmer and warmer by the day:

Bush and British PM focus on Iraq (click here for video). Let's hope they continue to focus on issues of The Middle East and promoting PEACE rather than inflammatory international conditions that 'aid terrorists' while destabilizing international infrastructure.

BP's Russian partnership turns sour (click here)
BP's reputation in Russia came under withering attack yesterday when the billionaire oligarch at the centre of a row over the company's troubled Russian joint venture accused BP of "arrogance" and Nazi-style behaviour.
Mikhail Fridman said the oil venture TNK-BP had performed "dismally" since BP took a 50% stake in the company in 2003. Fridman owns half of the venture with three other oligarchs.
He also implicitly compared BP's chairman Peter Sutherland to Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi propaganda chief. Sutherland last week suggested that Fridman and the other Russian shareholders were trying to grab control of TNK-BP, in a 1990s style corporate raid. Asked whether he planned to usurp BP, Fridman told the business daily Vedomosti: "That's in the best tradition of Goebbels propaganda." Fridman insisted he was not a "typical cash-grabbing oligarch"....

ANOTHER OIL WAR IN THE MAKING !!!

BP accuses Russian tycoons of corporate raid attempt on TNK-BP (click here)
MOSCOW, June 12 (RIA Novosti) - British oil major BP said on Thursday that the Russian tycoons owning half of oil venture TNK-BP are attempting a corporate raid on the company, and that the Kremlin is failing to stop them.
Earlier in the day the Russian shareholders in TNK-BP, Russia's third-largest oil company, said they would start legal proceedings against BP, reportedly over management and strategy issues.
BP Chairman Peter Sutherland told reporters in Stockholm: "It is unfortunately a much simpler dispute over control, and perhaps ultimately ownership of the company."
"This is just a return to the corporate raiding activities that were prevalent in Russia in the 1990s." ...


Dark Green - Ratified
Light Green - Signed, but not yet ratified
Grat - Did not sign

Ratifying the "Law of the Sea" by the USA would eliminate any confrontation. It is a treaty. The USA plays with being responsible by signing the treaty, no different than Kyoto, but simply doesn't have the 'backbone' to ratify treaties, just 'in case' the Neocons can instigate still another crony war. That's Republicans for you.


The Trouble Makers of the USA are arrogant (click title to entry) and 'enforce' the idea that 'any conflict will do.' Those are the Neocons for you.

...Last month at the Arctic Ocean Conference (AOC) in Ilulissat, Greenland, high-level diplomats from the United States and the other four nations that border the Arctic region--Canada, Denmark, Norway, and Russia--met to discuss territorial claims regarding the Arctic Circle. At the conclusion of the meeting, the five countries issued a joint statement declaring that, "[b]y virtue of their sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction in large areas of the Arctic Ocean," each nation was in a unique position to address the exploitation of natural resources in the Arctic....

Russian Strategic Bombers Fly Routine Patrol Over The Arctic (click here)

..."Two Tu-95 bombers have started a regular patrol flight over remote areas of the Arctic," Lt. Col. Vladimir Drik said. "The aircraft will perform a variety of tasks, including midair refueling from two Il-78 aerial tankers based at the Dyagilevo airbase [also in central Russia]."...

An F-15C Eagle from the 12th Fighter Squadron at Elmendorf Air Force Base flies next to a Russian Tu-95 Bear Bomber during a Russian exercise Sept. 28, which brought the Bear near the west coast of Alaska. The Eagle took off as part of North American Aerospace Defense Command’s reaction to this training opportunity provided by the Russian 137th Air Army.



Elevation :: 33 ft / 10 m

Local Time: 12:56 PM AKDT

Lat/Lon: 58.8° N 137.0° W

Temperature :: 57 °F / 14 °C

Conditions :: Overcast

Humidity :: 67%

Dew Point: :: 46 °F / 8 °C

Wind :: 4 mph / 6 km/h / 1.5 m/s from the NW

Pressure :: 30.06 in / 1018 hPa (Rising)

Visibility :: 10.0 miles / 16.1 kilometers

UV :: 3 out of 16

Clouds:
Mostly Cloudy 3000 ft / 914 m
Mostly Cloudy 3500 ft / 1066 m
Overcast 5000 ft / 1524 m
(Above Ground Level)

Sympathies to the Russert Family. He was special. He obviously loved people more than politics. This is really a lousy deal.

NBC needs to 'retire' the title of Meet the Press. The program belonged to him. It is like retiring a Journalists Number. He'll be missed.

Bye, Tim.

American military death toll in Iraq is 4096. It only seems like 5000.

...May I correct that statement? I advocated The Surge Policy BEFORE President Bush....I said the 'past strategy was going to fail (With ear to ear smile).

...now that the Surge is working (according to Neocon Estimates) when can the troops come home from Iraq?

McCain: "No, but, that is Not Too Important. What is important is the casualties in Iraq...." According to McCain we are engaged in a forever war and it is irrelivant when the war ends and the troops return so long as the troops come home with honor and in victory. So, it would seem as though according to Senator McCain, that The Surge worked and is working, but, there is no CLEAR AND CONCISE VICTORY and no honor.

I see. His view of the world is flawed due to Republican rhetoric that blind sides him. He is another propagandist, no different than Cheney and Bush.

We all know the 'reason' The Surge APPEARs to be working is because the organized militias that have been protecting the Shi'ites in Southern Iraq from the time of invasion by Bush, have declared a 'Cease Fire.' Why is it that no one asks McCain what he thinks of the 'Sustained Cease Fire?' I guess it isn't a 'politically enhancing Republican question. Lord knows that the Republican view of Iraq is one of control, not civility. Consistently from the beginnings of the invasion, the 'security' was directed to the oil fields, not the people of Iraq. The people of Iraq were left in anarchy and left to turn to the only means of security the Shia ever had and that was the militias of Southern Iraq.

According to McCain, the war in Iraq is a necessity to instill the desired Western values. Hm. A democratically 'free' society is supposed to reflect the majority choices of that society, NOT, the occupying society. Where McCain loses this argument is when he mixes 'apples with oranges.' He consistently has bought into The Bush Propaganda that McClellan clearly states now are all lies. McCain still believes 'occupying' Iraq will lead to Middle East security when in fact the lies that Bush and Cheney told do nothing but escalate tensions among minority Shia, including Iran thus continuing the 'brinkmanship' of Cheney for an invasion into Iran.

McCain's 'view of the world' is eschewed. It is based in KNOWN lies. The Iraq War is a faux front to cronyism. We all know that. McCain is consistently backing a faux war whereby Iraq was never a threat to the USA and continues NOT to be a threat to the USA, while the 'real war' in Afghanistan is consistently growing in proportion and chaos.

McCain is not presidential material. He can't see the forest for the trees. He believes in 'the war principles of a soldier' and not International Stability. He's wrong. Just plain wrong. He believes in escalating an unnecessary war. He believes in the crony war of Bush/Cheney.

Iraq is a forever war that is supposed to deliver Western Democracy to a country that wants to divide into Provincial authority to prevent more deaths of Shia and Kurds. The Iraqis want provincial control, not the return of a central government that can be turned against them as has been demonstrated by Maliki when using American and British military force to invade Basra and kill innocent people already engaged in a ceasefire.



US military reports 2 troop deaths in Iraq
14 hours ago
BAGHDAD (AP) — The U.S. military says an American soldier has been killed by a roadside bomb in Baghdad and a Marine has died in a non-combat related incident elsewhere in Iraq.
The military says the Multi-National Division — Baghdad soldier has died of wounds in the blast that occurred about 3:30 p.m. Thursday in a western section of the capital.
A separate statement says a Multi-National Force — West Marine died as the result of a non-combat related incident on Wednesday. The incident is under investigation.
The troops' names have not been released pending notification of relatives.

The Cedar River has passed flood stage.

The Pleistocene Glacier Advance. Tell me this isn't where record floods are finding their headwaters?

There is major government infrastructure under water in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. All this could have been prevented with the heeding of warnings for five decades now. And this isn't the worst of it. This is your governments at work. Congratulations America, you DON'T pay attention ! A simple question is all anyone needed to ask. "What are we doing to stem human induced global warming?" Simple question with simple answers, "Stop using fossil fuels and seek alternatives in transporation and energy." Simple. So simple.

One aspect to all this that no one points to is the 'long view history' of this region. It was at one time covered by glaciers. I have consistently stated for some time now, that Earth is trying to 'recap' itself but can't because of the warming due to carbon dioxide. If all this percipitation that the mid-continent is receiving was frozen, it would be under a growing glacier by now.

Glacial Landmarks Trail: Iowa's Heritage of Ice (click here)


The Cedar Rapids Public Library (center right), Ground Transportation Center (left) and the Cedar Rapids Science Station (bottom left) in downtown Cedar Rapids as seen from the air on Thursday, June 12, 2008.

A confluence of unlikely weather events has created a Cedar River flood crest that defies historical records.
The predicted 32-foot crest expected to arrive Friday exceeds by nearly 12 feet the previous record — 20 feet, set in 1929.It all started with record and near-record snowfall last winter across the watershed of the Cedar River, said Steve Kuhl, meteorologist in charge at the National Weather Service in the Quad Cities.
The melting snowpack combined with spring rains sent the Cedar to a 17.1-foot crest in Cedar Rapids on April 27, Kuhl said."All that water saturated the soil and primed the river for more flooding," he said.
Then in May a consistent southwest-to-northeast upper air flow enabled storms moving through the Midwest to tap abundant moist air from the Gulf of Mexico, resulting in frequent heavy rains across Eastern Iowa, including those on Thursday, Kuhl said.
As of Thursday, Cedar Rapids had recorded 24.09 inches of rain for the year — more than 10 inches above normal — and other parts of Eastern Iowa within the Cedar watershed recorded from 15 to 20 inches of rain between May 10 and June 10, he said.
Heavy rains accompanying the May 25 storm that spawned killer tornadoes in Parkersburg and New Hartford raised river levels throughout Eastern Iowa and saturated already sodden soils.
When more heavy rain fell Sunday across the Cedar watershed, "all the smaller creeks and tributaries draining into the Cedar contributed to its historic levels," Kuhl said.
Swollen by record flows on the Winnebago and Shell Rock rivers and Beaver Creek, the Cedar smashed flood records in Cedar Falls, Waterloo and Vinton en route to its record Cedar Rapids crest.

The 'system' resulting in severe storms has remained the same. A Mid-latitude vortex pulling hot moisture off the Equator into Arctic air.

June 13, 2008
0930z
Water Vapor Satellite of the North and West Hemisphere

There is the 'usual' and what is becoming 'standard/static' weather pattern in the center of North America from latitude 36 N to 49 N and longitude 104 W to 80 W.

There is also the beginning of the next 'set' of tropical storms. The Atlantic tropical depression has been consistent for over 8 hours now and that is near Barbados. Barbados has been receiving rain for the entire time since the tropical depression manifested.

The next Pacific tropical storm has been manifesting for approximately the last ten hours north west of Bahia de Charaquez, Equador at about latitude 6 N and longitude of about 92 W.

I told you and I told you and I told you and I'm not playing around anymore !

Tornado Kills Four At Iowa Boy Scout Camp (click here)
The deadly twister was one of more than 30 that roared through four U.S. Midwestern states on Wednesday....
...The tornado was one of more than 30 reported late Wednesday moving across eastern Kansas into Nebraska, Iowa and into Minnesota, according to Storm Prediction Center.
The tornadoes were accompanied by baseball-sized hail and vicious winds, and came in addition to rampant flooding that has forced hundreds from their homes in Iowa....

June 12, 2008
0430z
Water Vapor Satellite of North and West Hemisphere of Earth ( 12 hour loop click here)


June 12,2008
0430z
Enhanced Infrared USA


June 11, 2008
0431z on 06.12.08 (1130 PM CDT)
Enhanced Infrared Satellite of Central Plains

INDEED, gas prices are just the beginning. The responsiblity for widespread tropospheric demise of life and property has to be assigned and I can't think of better people to assign it to.

Protesters Gather Outside Exxon Mobile Shareholders Meeting (click here)
POSTED: 6:49 pm CDT May 28, 2008
DALLAS -- High gasoline prices was just one of the reasons protesters lined up Wednesday outside of the Exxon shareholders meeting in Dallas, NBC 5 reported.
While record profits for Exxon Mobil do not sit well with drivers with gas is nearing $4 a gallon, the protesters said gas prices were just the beginning...



Earning a "Wilderness Survival" Badge was never defined as staring down a tornado !

Yesterday under a THICK 'cloud' of Carbon Dioxide still another tornado was spawned. In Iowa which is suffering, along with Wisconson, some of the most devastating biotic effects of a hostile troposphere due to the lack of "Global Warming" policy of the USA. Bush, Cheney, their administration, including Kempthorne along with the Republicans of the House and Senate may as well have killed those young men, because a tornado was their proxy !

Four boy scouts killed in Iowa tornado identified (click title to entry)

The Gazette
DES MOINES - Iowa authorities today identified the four teenaged Boy Scouts who were killed last night when a tornado ripped through the Little Sioux Scout Ranch in western Iowa.

The victims were Aaron Eilerts, 14, of Eagle Grove, Iowa; and Josh Fennen, 13, Sam Thomsen, 13, and Ben Petrzilka, 14, all of Omaha, Neb.

Iowa public safety commissioner Eugene Meyer told a press briefing today that another 35 people were transported to hospitals in western Iowa and Omaha for treatment of injuries – including three individuals with serious skull, pelvis and spinal injuries. More than 20 of the injured victims were treated for injuries and released.

Iowa Gov. Chet Culver called the deadly incident “a blow right to the gut,” while Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman called the scene at the 1,800-acre Boy Scout ranch “total devastation” after tour the damage....

Last night on CNN, for as good a weather forecast it could have been, I witnessed some of the most ludicrous reporting in my entire life. Chad the Weather Man was covering up 'The Truth' by stating all the tornado activity was due to El Nino. Do you know LONG this news netework has been saying that Human Induced Global Warming Troposphere is actually El Nino? How about the ENTIRE time George Walker Bush has been in office?

Last night I heard about young men cut down in the wilderness of Iowa in a place where tornadoes should NEVER have occurred and certainly not been on the ground for 20 minutes.

During every hour of reporting of dead children what was interlaced with the broadcast were 'PR' plugs for the OIL INDUSTRY !!!!! We were supposed to be grateful for excellant returns on our investment strategies at our place of work, at least for the people who still work and still have investment portfolios in their 401Ks. We were told we needed to be grateful to the investment managers that they included oil stocks among the choices they made !

Fear tactics were laid out well in advance of the impending disaster for people that might have to spend a lot of money on oil for heating this winter and how we, as a nation, HAVE TO drill for domestic oil including places like ANWR. Did I hear how people that STILL heat their homes with oil should be converting to ALTERNATIVE methods? No. Did I hear an apology from George Walker Bush or Richard Cheney for artifically inflating the price of oil by maintaining hideously high levels of 'Reserve' for the nation? No.

What I did hear was how a retired man should 'learn to cope' and GET A JOB and stop his whining over the fact that he is on a fixed income, with higher and higher costs for fuel for his car, utility payments and food costs. That is an answer? That might be a John McCain answer, but, it is NOT the answer to the dilemmas the people of the USA face !

Deepest sympathies to all the victims of 'so called' natural disasters. It's time to have a government that sincerely cares about the people of the USA reflected in policy and in that policy expresses compassion to a global community attempting to 'Tame the Troposphere' alone, in the face of ever escalating USA emissions of CO2.

Temperature reaches record high, forcing temporary closure of Wrightsville Beach bridge

By Ana Ribeiro

Staff Writer
Published: Saturday, June 7, 2008 at 11:00 p.m.

Last Modified: Saturday, June 7, 2008 at 11:09 p.m.

Ninety-eight-degree temperatures scorched Wilmington on Saturday.
As far as the National Weather Service knows, it's never been this hot in Wilmington on June 7; and the aging Wrightsville Beach drawbridge took a hit from it.
"The bridge just got so hot because of the heat today that the metal expanded and the bridge wouldn't open or close," said Officer Matt Holland with the Wrightsville Beach Fire Department.

The issue started at around 2 p.m., and an N.C. Department of Transportation official went to the fire department two hours later asking for help, Holland said. The bridge's position allowed for car traffic, and no one was trapped or hurt, said Holland.
But firefighters had to stop traffic for 30 minutes, between around 4:15 and 4:45 p.m., while they sprayed water on the bridge from a truck, he said; after that, the bridge cooled down and resumed functioning.
Holland said the DOT told him it would try Saturday night to come up with answers as to what happened....

Weather at Khartoum, Sudan (Airport)

This video frame grab image taken from Sudan TV via AP Television News shows a plane that burst into flames after apparently veering off a runway at an airport in Khartoum, Sudan, Tuesday June 10, 2008. (AP / Sudan TV via APTN)

..."One of the (plane's) engines exploded and the plane caught fire," Ibrahim said. He said bad weather did not cause the crash, which he blamed on a technical problem.
The Sudanese ambassador to Washington called the weather "very bad" and said the runway was drenched by rain.
The head of Sudanese police, Mohammad Najib, said bad weather "caused the plane to crash land, split into two and catch fire."
"We believe that most of the passengers were able to make it out and escape with their lives," said Najib, without disclosing further details on how they escaped.
But he stressed that officials could not say for sure how many were killed.
The airport was experiencing a thunderstorm and winds about 20 mph at the time of the crash, said Elaine Yang, a meterologist with the San Francisco-based Weather Underground, a private weather service.
Raqeeb Abdel-Latif, head of the Sudan Airways office in Damascus, Syria, said the plane had joined the Sudanese national carrier fleet seven months ago.
It took off from Damascus with 203 passengers on board, mostly Africans and a few non-Sudanese nationals and 14 crew members. It stopped in Amman, where 34 additional passengers came on board.
Due to inclement weather, the aircraft stopped at Port Sudan Airport along the Red Sea picking up 35 passengers and refueling before heading back, Sudanese Ambassador John Ukec Lueth Ukec said in Washington.
Upon arrival the weather was "still very bad," said Ukec. "There was a lot of water on the runway and they still tried to land."...

Khartoum, Sudan (Airport)

June 10, 2008

Time :: 2:00 PM EST

Lat/Lon: 15.6° N 32.5° E

Elevation :: 1253 ft / 382 m

Temperatures :: 95 °F / 35 °C

Conditions :: Light Rain

Humidity :: 34%

Dew Point :: 70 °F / 21 °C

Wind :: 21 mph / 33 km/h / from the South

Wind Gust :: -

Pressure :: 29.76 in / 1008 hPa

Visibility :: 12.0 miles / 19.0 kilometers

Former Presidential Candidate, Representative Dennis Kucinich, brings Articles of Impeachment to the House Floor. Support your House Representative !

Kucinich presents Bush impeachment articles (Video of Motion - click title of entry. Thank you.)
David Edwards and Mike Sheehan

Published: Monday June 9, 2008

An Ohio Democratic lawmaker and former presidential candidate has presented articles of impeachment against President George W. Bush to Congress.
Thirty-five articles were presented by Rep. Dennis Kucinich to the House of Representatives late Monday evening, airing live on C-SPAN.
"The House is not in order," said Kucinich to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), upon which Pelosi pounded her gavel.
"Resolved," Kucinich then began, "that President George W. Bush be impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors, and that the following articles of impeachment be exhibited to the United States Senate. ...
"In his conduct while President of the United States, George W. Bush, in violation of his constitutional oath to faithfully execute the office of president of the United States, and to the best of his ability preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, and in violation of his constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, has committed the following abuses of power..."
The first article Kucinich presented, and many that followed, regarded the war in Iraq: "Article 1 - Creating a secret propaganda campaign to manufacture a false case for war against Iraq."
On several occasions, Kucinich referenced RAW STORY and its noted investigative news chief, Larisa Alexandrovna, as source material for the articles. Two of the RAW STORY pieces Kucinich mentioned are viewable here and here.
Kucinich, a 2004 and 2008 Democratic candidate for the White House, abandoned a prior attempt to begin impeachment proceedings against Bush in January of this year.
In April of 2007, Kucinich presented impeachment articles against Vice President Dick Cheney, but the effort went nowhere. Kucinich exclaimed that "impeachment may well be the only remedy which remains to stop a war of aggression against Iran."
Before leaving office in January 2007, then-Democratic Rep. Cynthia McKinney--currently a Green Party presidential candidate--introduced articles of impeachment against President Bush as her last act in Congress, but that effort also was fruitless.
This video is from C-SPAN, broadcast June 9, 2008.

Scientists study sea-level rise in the Arctic

REFLECTIONS
By Fr. Shay Cullen
How to feed a hungry world (click here)
...Last week Irish fishermen staged a public protest in Dublin and gave away fish and threw more into the river Liffy to highlight their protest at the strict European Union restrictions on the number of boats allowed to put to sea and the tonnage of fish they are allowed to catch. The price of fish is soaring along with everything else....

Interview with Barry Scott Zellen: Arctic Lessons (click here)
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 6/5/2008
Barry Scott Zellen is the Deputy Editor of "Strategic Insights", and Research Editor of the Arctic Security Project at the Center for Contemporary Conflict.Q. In your book "Breaking the Ice: From Land Claims to Tribal Sovereignty in the Arctic" (Lexington Books, 2008) you describe the long and, ultimately, fruitful quest by the native tribes of the Arctic to regain a modicum of sovereignty over their ancient lands. Can you give us a capsule history of this process?...

The USA's response to the DEMISE of the Arctic Ocean is to attempt to raise the question of whether or not the rising sea levels change the continental borders enough to bring more sovereignty to the American claim.

While Russia is preparing for what Pravada is calling WW III (click here).


Russian strategic bombers fly routine patrol over the Arctic (click here).
MOSCOW, June 9 (RIA Novosti) - A pair of Russian Tu-95 Bear strategic bombers took off Monday from the Engels airbase in central Russia on a routine patrol flight over the Arctic Ocean, an Air Force spokesman said.
Russia resumed strategic bomber patrol flights over the Pacific, Atlantic, and Arctic oceans last August, following an order signed by then president Vladimir Putin.
"Two Tu-95 bombers have started a regular patrol flight over remote areas of the Arctic," Lt. Col. Vladimir Drik said. "The aircraft will perform a variety of tasks, including midair refueling from two Il-78 aerial tankers based at the Dyagilevo airbase [also in central Russia]."
Drik said that all flights by Russian aircraft were performed by skilled pilots in strict compliance with international laws on the use of air space over neutral waters, without violating the borders of other states....

But, Canada is the best prepared along with Russia to claim the Lion's share of the Arctic and for that the United Nations "Law of the Sea" should prove to be a very valuable guide post to assist in the protections for this region of the world and its role as a 'Sustainability Stabilizer' to reverse the trend in Human Induced Global Warming.

A map showing the newly granted Australian seabed territory. The purple is the new stuff equalling 2.5 million square kilometres, slightly smaller than Canada's proposed gains in the Arctic and North Atlantic.Photograph by : Handout/Government of Australia

The weather at Glacier Bay National Park (crystal wind chime) is melting STILL :

Elevation :: 33 ft / 10 m

Local Time: 12:47 AM AKDT

Lat/Lon: 58.8° N 137.0° W

Temperature :: 43 °F / 6 °C

Conditons :: Overcast

Windchill :: 43 °F / 6 °C

Humidity :: 93%

Dew Point :: 41 °F / 5 °C

Wind :: Calm

Pressure :: 30.15 in / 1021 hPa (Rising)

Visibility :: 7.0 miles / 11.3 kilometers

UV :: 0 out of 16

Clouds:
Few 4300 ft / 1310 m
Overcast 7000 ft / 2133 m
(Above Ground Level)