Paris Hilton goes from Food Porn to Politics. I guess it had to happen sooner or later. Carl, Jr. must be so proud.

John McCain stated, "...everyone is just having good fun..."

So, while spending millions in frivilous and defaming 'bigot' ads that seek 'character assassination' rather than addressing the USA's issues, it was all good clean fun.

Really?

Chill, everybody. Paris Hilton's no Willie Horton (click here)
JOHN IBBITSON
jibbitson@globeandmail.com
August 7, 2008
WASHINGTON -- Why is everyone beating up on John McCain?
A week after it debuted, the Britney Spears/Paris Hilton ad still has legs. The Republican spot juxtaposes images of the tabloid sensations with Barack Obama's rally in Berlin, claiming that the Democratic presidential nominee is "the biggest celebrity in the world," but not ready to lead.
Ms. Hilton responded with her own video, released on funnyordie.com. "That wrinkly, white-haired guy used me in his ad, which I guess means I'm running for president," she declares, from her poolside chair.
"So thanks for the endorsement, white-haired dude, and I want America to know I'm, like, totally ready to lead."...

Some time ago, I set parameters as to what constitutes bigotry in a Presidential Election and what doesn't. The rule is simple. If the 'attack' focuses on 'personal' traits rather than issues that beset the nation, it is bigotry.

Celebrity status of a USA President is a given. Those running for office are granted the opportunity to be in 'the spotlight.' It's just that simple. If Mr. McCain can't stand the fact taht Barak Obama is charismatic, no different than JFK, then I suggest he surrender to the conquests of a man more than qualified to lead the USA.

Running frivilous, unsubstantive ads to distract from reality and FACTS, as McCain is chronically doing is admitting he is defeated. McCain has no policy that works or provides a CLEAR framework to changing the path the USA has taken under Republican leadership.

Offshore oil drilling is a matter of State's Rights. It has little to do with federal regulations. While the federal government can 'stand down' from prohibiting Offshore Oil Drilling, that doesn't actually mean it will happen. If today, the federal government stepped aside as the Republicans are demanding happens, it WOULD NOT facilitate the actual puncturing of the Earth's crust for 'anticipated' oil finds. Those directives are entirely up to State Governments. Every state with a shoreline has the RIGHT to say 'No.'

Sorry, Paris. While she is a fashion bug with a lot on the ball when it comes to making decisions regarding what is important in the field of energy, she also displays the 'derailing' of the issues at hand and why the Republicans resorted to 'gimmicks' rather than facts.

The fact is that, in the length of time it would take to pass a bill at the federal level to deregulate offshore oil drilling, then have the States address their concerns and pass their own legislation to drill, the USA could INVEST billions into modern technology to REPLACE fossil fuel energy rather than langish in prolonged stupidity.

More oil exploration, other than that needed for military purposes is NOT prudent or environmentally important. Got that. Oil exploration IS NOT important !!

Slick John McCain and the offshore oil ruse (click here)
The safety and economics of offshore drilling are distractions from the much larger challenges that humanity faces: Climate change and peak oil.
By Andrew Leonard
June 25, 2008 An example of leadership or reckless chutzpah? On Monday, John McCain visited Santa Barbara, the scene of one of the great environmental disasters in American history, and proceeded to downplay the potential consequences of lifting the federal moratorium on new offshore drilling. Modern drilling technology is environmentally safe, he told the audience. According to the Associated Press, McCain "cited the examples of Louisiana and Texas, noting they have allowed drilling and weathered two devastating hurricanes with minimal or no oil spills."
McCain exaggerated. A 2007 report by the U.S. Minerals Management Service unearthed by Outside the Beltway documented the damage caused in the Gulf of Mexico by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita: "124 spills were reported with a total volume of roughly 17,700 barrels of total petroleum products."
Now, 17,700 barrels of oil equals 743,400 gallons. Whether you consider that a lot or a little depends on your perspective. Compared with the 1.5 million barrels pumped out of the Gulf every day, it is a trivial amount. But it's also within shouting distance of the 3 million gallons of oil spilled in the Santa Barbara offshore oil disaster of 1969....

Paris is showing symptoms of Republican Propaganda. "Good Ole Boy" mind set that exploits the 'innocence' of the electorate.

Bringing people 'up to speed' on facts and issues is supposed to be the 'fain' of the media.

But.

In the year 2008, when Republicans are viewed as 'the preferential greed machine' to place in political power positions such as President; the information is grossly missing across the board in media expertise and facts. Instead, the media is sequestered into pundancy and that is the saddest reality of any that exists in today's elections.

There is dearly little policing of the facts so much as pundancy to political power based in greed rather than need.

Wind farms linked to electric cars would completely liberate Americans from exploitation by Wall Street while freeing them to engage the free market.

The 'retooling' of the car industry, which has to be facilitated by government, is paramount to providing Americans with a return of their incomes and freedom to spend it. Every industry across the board is suffering from the exploitation of the Bush/Cheney economy, including tourism. When consumers have no disposable income the eoncomy suffers immeasurably.

When 'jobs' shift from fossil fuel to those of Wind, Solar and High Speed Magnetic Rail, the country will again have the 'freedom' to enjoy its economy rather than 'be captured' and 'held hostage' to exploitive fossil fuel industries.

Okay, let me get this right. The USA has a lab. Unsupervised where employees are allowed free reign. Really?

Now, the American public is supposed to believe that Bruce Ivins was a raving nut case with several personalities, under treatment and STILL allowed military access to stores of WMD.

Right.

The poems being expounded by the media sound extremely similar to the poems of Rove when he pretended '...lump in the bed...' was written by Bush to Laura.


Anthrax suspect Bruce Ivins' emotional state is detailed (click here)
The government releases documents indicating that the scientist's mental illness flared around the time of the deadly 2001 anthrax mailings.
By Tom Hamburger, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer 10:32 PM PDT, August 6, 2008
WASHINGTON -- Bruce E. Ivins, the bioweapons scientist who apparently killed himself as the government was preparing to indict him in the 2001 anthrax attacks, had a long history of mental illness that flared just before mail contaminated with the fatal spores was received in New York, Florida, Connecticut and Washington, D.C.
Newly released government documents show that in the months before the mailings that led to the deaths of five people and made 17 ill, Ivins -- who had worked at the Army's top biodefense laboratory for 28 years -- told a friend that he had "incredible paranoid, delusional thoughts at times" and feared that he might not be able to control his behavior....

Bruce Ivins never had any other problem in his life that would raise suspicions regarding NATIONAL SECURITY before he engaged in poisoning the American public. Why does that seem like Sci-Fi ?

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (click here).

I am supposed to believe this ?

I don't think so.

WHERE IS THE INVESTIGATION INTO THE INVESTIGATION ?????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Where did the USA Economy go? First the surplus belonged to the USA...then...it belonged to Iraq.

President Clinton announces another record budget surplus (click here)
From CNN White House Correspondent Kelly Wallace
September 27, 2000Web posted at: 4:51 p.m. EDT (2051 GMT)
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Clinton announced Wednesday that the federal budget surplus for fiscal year 2000 amounted to at least $230 billion, making it the largest in U.S. history and topping last year's record surplus of $122.7 billion.
"Eight years ago, our future was at risk," Clinton said Wednesday morning. "Economic growth was low, unemployment was high, interest rates were high, the federal debt had quadrupled in the previous 12 years. When Vice President Gore and I took office, the budget deficit was $290 billion, and it was projected this year the budget deficit would be $455 billion."...



Haliburton Company: Accounting for Cost Overruns and Recoveries (click here)
In July 2002, a legal watchdog group, Judicial Watch, announced that it was suing Halliburton Company for overstating revenues during the period 1998 to 2001. The group's contention was that Halliburton used fraudulent accounting practices to boost revenues and hide a deteriorating financial position from investors. Specifically, the lawsuit centered around the way the company recognized claims recoveries on long-term construction projects. Prior to 1998, the company's policy was to book cost overrun expenses as soon as they occurred, but not to book claims recoveries as revenue until the repayment amount was agreed to with the client. In 1998, the company changed policies to begin estimating future recoveries and recognizing them in the same period that overrun expenses were realized. The company, which had been suffering from a recent slowdown in business and large litigation losses from asbestos lawsuits, claimed that its accounting practices were permitted under generally accepted accounting principals (GAAP). Judicial Watch, however, claimed the accounting policy inflated revenues over the four-year period by as much as $534 million. This case focuses on the accounting issues and disclosure policy of the company during the 1998 to 2001 period. Readers of the case are asked to assess whether the company's policies and decisions were appropriate in the relevant areas of accounting and disclosure.



Iraq spends little on rebuilding despite huge surplus: US report (click here)
18 hours ago
WASHINGTON (AFP) — Iraq is amassing a huge budget surplus of soaring oil export revenues, but is spending little on reconstruction, for which the United States is bearing the financial burden, a US government report said.
The Government Accounting Office report issued Tuesday said that, counting Baghdad's actual budget balance for 2005 to 2007, and the projected budget of 2008, the country would have amassed a surplus of up to 79.3 billion dollars out of revenues of up to 182.2 billion dollars.
But little of that money is going to maintaining and rebuilding key civil infrastructure, the GAO report said.
Over 2005-2007, "the Iraqi government spent only one percent of total expenditures to maintain Iraq- and US-funded investments such as buildings, water, and electricity installations, and weapons."...

Antarctica is receiving heat transfers that rob the continent of its frigid temperatures.

New Zealand 'enters recession' (click title to entry above, thank you)
New Zealand is already in a recession, according to a new assessment by the country's Treasury.
The most common definition of a recession defines it as two consecutive three-month periods of contraction....

New Zealand's Jobless Rate Probably Rose to 18-Month-High 3.8% (click here)
Aug. 5 (Bloomberg) -- New Zealand's jobless rate probably rose to an 18-month high in the second quarter as the economy stalled, prompting companies to reduce hiring.
The unemployment rate rose to 3.8 percent from 3.6 percent in the first quarter, according to the median estimate of 13 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. The report is released Aug. 7 at 10:45 a.m. in Wellington....

This image was occurring at the same time as the satellite picture below. The vortex can be noted in the satellite below at 8 o'clock. Australia is at 7 o'clock.


July 26, 2008
0722 gmt

I have to retrieve a satellite image from last week that proves the above statement. The above satellite clearly indicates a very turbulent Southern Hemisphere. One might recall the penguin deaths recently.

Hundreds of baby penguins found dead in Brazil (click here)

Their trauma was also visited by the people of New Zealand (see satellite image of vortex over New Zealand above.)

Thousands without power, roads closed as storm batters NI (+photos) (click here)

Yacht gets bashed (click here)

At issue is this. The satellite pictures of the Southern Hemisphere taken nine days apart show a diminishing 'frigid' air masse over East Antarctica. The image from July 26th clearly shows an arriving heat transfer over East Antarctica where the Blue Ice lives and a subsequent mingling of that heat transfer with that air masse hence resulting in a diminished capacity of 'coldness' as noted in the satellite picture of August 4th.

The top ice, 3 miles up is experiencing very frigid temperatures due to the temporal effects of seasons, however, the coastal areas are warm and melting. It is this highly turbulent difference in temperature on the continent along with the arriving equatorial heat transfers that have resulted in highly unpredictable and drastic weather.

New Zealand is not doing well economically either. Their government have noted a recession besetting the country. New Zealand's people are 'of concern' given their proximity to a dynamic Antarctica due to human induced global warming.


August 4, 2008
1316 gmt
Antarctica Satellite

The is grossly diminished frigid air over Antarctica. The heat transfers have been fast and furious with the diminished cooling capacity of the Arctic Ocean. The oceans have lost their mechanisms to cool the continents. The Arctic Ocean was the worlds 'ice cube.' It no longer exists in any significant capacity to prevent the 'super heating' of the continents.


August 3, 2008
0600 gmt
Anarctica Vortex/Jet Stream Satellite ( 7 day loop)


August 4, 2008
0900 AM utc
Antarctica Surface Winds (click here for 24 hour loop)


August 4, 2008
0900 AM
Antarctica Temperature Satellite

Vostok, Antarctica

Lat/Lon: 78.4° S 106.9° E

Local Time: August 4, 2008; 10:01 PM VOST
Temperature :: -81 °F / -63 °C
Conditions :: Clear
Humidity :: 36%
Dew Point :: -88 °F / -67 °C
Wind :: 14 mph / 22 km/h / from the WSW
Wind Gust :: -
Pressure :: in / hPa (Rising)
Visibility :: 12.0 miles / 20.0 kilometers
Elevation :: 11220 ft / 3420 m
Flight Rule :: VFR ()
Wind Speed :: 14 mph / 22 km/h /
Wind Dir :: 250° (WSW)
Ceiling :: 100000 ft / 100000 m

Henry, Antarctica

Lat/Lon: 89.0° S 0.3° W

Local Time: Augsut 4, 2008; 4:03 PM GMT
Temperature :: -75 °F / -59 °C
Wind :: 15 mph / 24 km/h / from the NNE

Wind Gust :: -
Pressure :: in / hPa (Rising)
Elevation :: 9039 ft / 2755 m
Flight Rule :: NA
Wind Speed :: 15 mph / 24 km/h /
Wind Dir :: 30° (NNE)
Ceiling:

Palmer Station, Antarctica

Lat/Lon: 64.8° S 64.1° W

Local Time: August 4, 2008; 12:03 PM CLT

Temperature :: 33 °F / 0 °C
Condtions :: Clear
Humidity :: 73%
Dew Point :: 28 °F / -2 °C
Wind :: 40 mph / 65 km/h /from the North
Wind Gust :: -
Pressure :: 29.32 in / 993 hPa (Rising)
Elevation :: 26 ft / 8 m
Flight Rule :: NA
Wind Speed :: 40 mph / 65 km/h /
Wind Dir :: 0° (North)
Ceiling :: -

Base San Martin, Antarctica

Lat/Lon: 68.1° S 67.1° W
Elevation :: 13 ft / 4 m

Local Time: August 4, 2008; 4:04 PM GMT
Temperture :: 36 °F / 2 °C
Conditions :: Overcast
Humidity :: 75%
Dew Point :: 31 °F / -1 °C
Wind :: 34 mph / 56 km/h / from the NW
Wind Gust ;; -
Pressure :: 29.18 in / 988 hPa (Falling)
Visibility :: 12.0 miles / 20.0 kilometers
UV :: 0 out of 16
Clouds :: Overcast 9843 ft / 3000 m
(Above Ground Level)
Elevation :: 13 ft / 4 m
Flight Rule :: VFR ()
Wind Speed :: 34 mph / 56 km/h /
Wind Dir :: 320° (NW)
Ceiling :: 9800 ft / 3000 m

The weather in Antarctica (Crystal Ice Chime) is perplexing.

Dutch K2 survivor describes chaos after avalanche

This is not to glamorize the danger, but, to raise awareness to the caution. K2 has regular fatalities. Previous to these deaths was the death of climbers in 2004.

K2 2004 started with 3 deaths (click here) before the Italian expedition even arrived at base camp with porters dying on the trek to the mountain. Early in June four South Koreans climbers and two Sherpas were caught in an avalanche on K2. One of the South Koreans Climbers was OK, and both Sherpas are fine, the other three Korean climbers were found dead at Base camp in their sleeping bags in a crevice. According to the Korea times, the names are Lee Hwa-hyong, 36, Kim Jae-yong, 35, and Pae Kyong-kyu, 34. All were part of the 11 members Korean team from POSCO steel.

Noted in the picture below is a sparcity of ice and snow. That is a real 'clue' to the chance of such a tragedy odds of occurrence. The K2 Summit is very steep. Due to that fact and the fact it has high wind exposure, it is actually more dangerous than Mt. Everest could ever be. There is no way any ice or snow accumulation would ever 'hold' to the mountain for long. So, although these are experienced climbers using every means of protection to secure their position on the face of K2, they ignored the opportunity for danger by ignoring potentials of falling ice and snow. In the year 2008, it is 'expected' the optimal climbing condtions for K2 would be free of snow and ice.


Wilco van Rooijen, of the Netherlands, was injured on the treacherous Himalayan peak.


This is the summit when snow covered. Noted the surrounding mountain has little snow or ice cover.

This is a borrowed picture to illustrate the absence of snow and ice at the K2 Summit. The reason for same is linked to the dense cloud cover. With clouds come insulating warmth that separates the summit, which is exposed to the sun, from the supporting colder climate below and vise versa.

This is 'in the shadows' of K2. There is a direct link between the 'cold climatability' of K2 at the summit and the ice rivers that exist in its shadow. The surrounding mountains have snow on the same side and have absense of same on the same side. Wind and climate play a huge roll in the stability of the ice and snow found at the summit. The summit interacts with the climate of the surrounding mountains.

The location of K2 brings climbers the view of many countries. From that vantage point all wars and conflicts seem hideous when one realizes 'the boundary lines' of sovereignty are truly 'manmade' and lack the reality of survival at the peak.

Tornadoes cause havoc and death on two continents

Ruins of houses after a tornado hit Hautmont, northern France. Photograph: Philippe Frutier/AFP/Getty Images

Lizzy Davies in Paris
The Guardian,
Tuesday August 5 2008

The bodies of a man and a woman were pulled from the wreckage of their home yesterday, after a tornado tore through northern France, ripping off roofs, overturning cars and destroying dozens of houses.
The couple were believed to be the deputy mayor of Hautmont, which was at the epicentre of the tornado near the Belgian border, and his wife.
Earlier the body of an elderly woman was also discovered. She was thought to have died when her home collapsed on top of her. Thirteen other people were injured.
Firefighters, medics and police searched two residential streets in the area yesterday to establish whether anyone else was buried under the rubble.
High winds and torrential rain lashed the region on Sunday night as the tornado swept through an area of about four square miles in less than two hours....

Lost in the wash (click here)
Cubs just can't catch up when game is called in 8th after 2 lengthy rain delays
By Brian Hamilton Chicago Tribune reporter
August 5, 2008
The clock on top of the venerable Wrigley Field scoreboard read 8:06 p.m. Monday when tornado sirens began to wail in the darkness. Action between the Cubs and Astros had been suspended already for nearly a half-hour.Then, minutes after the sirens howled, the wind started blowing out. Like, really out. Like carry-a-ball-to-the-Michigan-shoreline out.Rain pulled a U-turn within the stadium. Debris floated along a river of standing water on the warning track behind home plate.All of it giving a new, unsettling meaning to "It's Gonna Happen."...

Storms roar through northern Illinois (click here)
Associated Press - August 5, 2008 4:53 AM ET
CHICAGO (AP) - One man caught at Chicago's Wrigley Field during last night's powerful storm says he'd "never seen anything like it."
Fans at the Cubs-Houston Astros game were evacuated from the stands as intense lightning, fierce wind and a torrential downpour battered the ballpark.
The game was called off after 8 innings -- and two weather delays.
Tornado sirens blared in downtown Chicago, and hundreds of flights were canceled at O'Hare Airport, where travelers were moved to lower levels of the terminals for safety.
In two counties west of the city, there was widespread tree and power line damage from the fast-moving storm. Trained spotters reported what may have been tornadoes.
No serious injuries have been reported.
Commonwealth Edison says more than 200,000 customers lost power at the height of the storm.

TROPICAL STORM EDOUARD INTERMEDIATE ADVISORY NUMBER 4A

Why would anyone begin to believe THE ANSWER to the USA's energy and transportation crisis be more Offshore Oil drilling? That makes sense?

I

DON'T

THINK

SO !!

...A STORM SURGE OF 2 TO 4 FT ABOVE NORMAL TIDE LEVELS CAN BE EXPECTEDIN THE WARNING AREA IN AREAS OF ONSHORE WINDS....


August 4, 2008
1225z
UNISYS Visual Satellite

The 'sunrise' adds dynamic to the storm. The hot waters of the Gulf fueled the development of the lastest storm this season, but, it is enhanced in dynamics by the solar radiation. The central pressure has stabilized at 1002 millibars, HOWEVER, it is the storm surge of a 'continuous' near shore storm that will plague the Gulf Coast. So long as the storm 'sits and spins' it will be driving tides higher with prolonged pounding of the coastal plains.


August 4, 2008
1440z
UNISYS Visual Satellite Image ( 12 hour loop )


Shell evacuating 40 offshore workers due to storm (click here)
NEW YORK, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Shell Oil said on Monday it would begin evacuating 40 workers from oil facilities in the Gulf of Mexico as a precaution due to the effects of Tropical Storm Edouard.
"No further evacuations are planned at this time and based on current information and forecast, we do not expect any impact on Shell operated production in the Gulf of Mexico," the company said in a release. (Reporting by Richard Valdmanis)


Storm Edouard shuts refinery, hits shipping (click here)
Reuters
Monday August 4 2008
By Erwin Seba
HOUSTON, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Tropical Storm Edouard forced shut a huge offshore oil port, a refinery, some oil production and disrupted shipping as the storm raced toward the Texas-Louisiana coast on Monday.
Energy companies evacuated staff from offshore platforms due to Edouard, the second named storm of the season to threaten oil operations in the Gulf of Mexico, with Apache shutting a small amount of output.
Marathon shut its Texas City, Texas refinery and Valero Energy Corp warned its plants in the region could be affected after the storm halted inbound traffic to the Houston Ship Channel and the Sabine Pass ship channel.
"We have started an orderly shut-down in preparation for the storm," said Marathon spokeswoman Angela Graves.
Packing 50 miles per hour (85 kph) winds, Edouard swept across the northern Gulf of Mexico about 80 miles (135 km) south-southwest of Grand Isle, Louisiana, threatening to come ashore on the Texas-Louisiana coast.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Edouard had about a 20 percent chance of becoming a hurricane by the time it reaches land.
The Gulf of Mexico supplies about a quarter of U.S. crude oil output and 15 percent of its natural gas, while Gulf Coast refiners make about a quarter of domestic gasoline.
The Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, the only deep-water U.S. oil port and a major conduit for the country's crude oil imports, temporarily suspended offloading oil tankers in the Gulf of Mexico due to high waves and winds.
The port's onshore storage continued to supply refiners with crude on-hand, however, a spokeswoman said....

U.S. Coast Guard closes inbound traffic at Houston channel (click here)
By Steve Gelsi
Last update: 11:39 a.m. EDT Aug. 4, 2008
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- The U.S. Coast Guard has closed ship traffic into the Houston Ship Channel, which provides access to the largest oil and gas operations in the U.S., a spokesperson from the Port of Houston Authority said. Ship traffic within the channel itself is still allowed. The move by the Coast Guard came in response to Tropical Storm Edouard.

First Global Water Vapor Map from OSTM

Tracking Water Vapor is one of the most important mappings NASA can pursue, unfortunately, this is the first and only such map. It would have been grossly helpful if NASA had been doing this for decades of time.

The oceans have high spots and low spots depending on ocean circulation. Here again, we should have had decades of recordkeeping to better understand our troposphere. However, it is better that we have started than not start at all. The unfortunate aspect of the tardiness of this project is that the Arctic Ocean is expected to be 'ice free' by September. While 'sea level rise' is considered 'static' with the meltdown of the Arctic Ice Cap, the reality is that significant ice masses were at the shorelines of the Arctic Ocean and once melted contributes to sea level rise in several ways, including 'continental rebound.'

This is a good start for such ventures by NASA and should continue. I doubt seriously it will add to the dialogue of circumstances now faced by humanity regarding Human Induced Global Warming resulting in Climate Change.



In mid-June 2008, NASA launched the latest of a series of satellites that scientists use to measure sea level from space. The Ocean Surface Topography Mission (OSTM)/Jason-2 uses a radar altimeter to map the height of the ocean surface. The radar sends a pulse of energy down to the ocean surface and listens for the echo. The time delay and intensity of the echo reveal the altitude of the sea surface.

Because water vapor delays the time it takes for the radar pulse to travel to the ocean surface and back, the satellite also carries a sensor to measure atmospheric moisture. The image above shows the first results from this sensor, the Advanced Microwave Radiometer: a global map of the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere beneath the satellite from June 22–28, 2008. The time span was the first week of operations for OSTM’s science instruments. In this image, white and light blue show dry areas; dark blue shows moist regions....

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

August 2, 2008
Fairbanks, Alaska
Photographer states :: Chena River flooding August 2008

Interior Alaska floods' effect on salmon spawning is unknown (Click on title to entry, thank you.)
By Tim Mowry
Published Monday, August 4, 2008

State fisheries biologists don’t know what kind of effect this week’s flood will have on spawning king salmon in the Chena and Salcha rivers. The flood coincided with the peak of spawning in both rivers.
“Most times when we’ve had floods, they happened later on, after the fish were done spawning,” Dan Bergstrom, the Department of Fish and Game’s regional supervisor for the Yukon River, said. “This year is different because it’s right on top of when they should be spawning.”...

...Female salmon dig holes called reads in the gravel river bottom to lay their eggs in before male fish fertilize them.
Virgil Umphenour, owner of Alaska Interior Fish Processors Inc. in Fairbanks, is worried the eggs will be carried away in the current.
“If you have high water and super fast current, the eggs will just go down the river as she’s laying them,” Umphenour speculated....

Lat/Lon :: 58.8° N 137.0° W

Elevation :: 33 ft / 10 m

Time :: 5:05 AM AKDT

Temperature :: 52 °F / 11 °C

Conditions :: Overcast

Humidity :: 88%

Dew Point :: 48 F/ 9 C

Wind :: Calm

Pressure :: 30.25 in / 1024 hPa (Steady)

Visibility :: 10.0 miles / 16.1 kilometers

UV :: 0 out of 16

Clouds :: Mostly Cloudy 2400 ft / 731 m

Overcast 4400 ft / 1341 m
(Above Ground Level)

Flight Rule:
MVFR (PAGS)
Wind Speed :: 4 mph / 6 km/h / 1.5 m/s
Wind Direction :: 140° (SE)
Ceiling :: 2200 ft / 670 m

The Republicans have a very poor track record on 'promises' but good record on 'whining.'

This was from 2001. Immediately after Inaugeration, Bush/Cheney did a complete reversal of their campaign promises when it came to addressing Human Induced Global Warming.





The McCain approach has never been significant enough to warrant support to a majority of the House or Senate. The McCain/Lieberman Bill has been a complete and abject failure.





They never backed S.309, the bill to amend The Clean Air Act (click here). You will NEVER seen John McCain or Joe Lieberman as a Co-sponsor to this bill and this IS the bill that needs to be passed by the USA to reduce Carbon Dioxide Emissions and set the USA on the BEST path to Environmental Safety.





GWEN IFILL: We get more on the Bush reversal from Debbie Reed, director of legislative affairs for the National Environmental Trust -- they supported limits on carbon dioxide emissions; and Chris Horner, a policy analyst at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, which opposes such limits.So, Debbie Reed, what is the significance of the president's decision to reverse himself on this?



DEBBIE REED: Well, Gwen, I think it's very significant; the president campaigned on a commitment to bring integrity to the White House but what good is his word now? This was the most significant environmental commitment made under the campaign, and the president walked away from it in exactly 53 days. I think it's very unfortunate that he has brought into question not only his integrity on environmental issues but his lead on EPA -- Christie Todd Whitman on this. Christie Todd Whitman has been a forceful proponent of protecting the president on this, and leading up on his promise to support a four-key agenda and unfortunately, while she was out front on this, the president sawed off the limb from underneath her. I think it's very unfortunate.



GWEN IFILL: Were you really surprised?



DEBBIE REED: Yes, actually, we were very surprised; the president had this in his campaign commitment -- and we've been hearing all the right signals from both him and from Christie Todd Whitman on this. And I think it's very unfortunate that they have caved to special interests on this in just a matter of weeks.





Then in 2003, afraid of the movement in the country over the concern of continued deterioration of the Arctic areas of Earth, and lusting after the oil under the floor of the Arctic Ocean, Bush decided to 'play god' further:






Going Backwards
Bush Administration: Carbon Dioxide Not a Pollutant (click here)
by Seth Borenstein

WASHINGTON - Carbon dioxide, the chief cause of global warming, cannot be regulated as a pollutant, the Environmental Protection Agency ruled Thursday....


..."Refusing to call greenhouse-gas emissions a pollutant is like refusing to say that smoking causes lung cancer," responded Melissa Carey, a climate policy specialist for Environmental Defense, a New York-based environmental group. "The Earth is round. Elvis is dead. Climate change is happening."...




The Republicans are UNTRUSTWORTHY on all counts !

The Republian Agenda of "More of the Same" is failing the USA.

Obama Revises Rescue Plan
By Jonathan Weisman

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Sen. Barack Obama, reacting to the seventh straight month of job decline, announced a new version of his $50 billion economic stimulus plan, which would use a windfall profits tax on oil companies to finance $500 tax rebates and aid to state governments for energy cost assistance, school construction and infrastructure building.

The new plan reallocates funds announced in the $50 billion assistance plan Obama had pledged two months ago, as part of that plan -- an extension of unemployment insurance and a housing refinancing fund -- has been approved by Congress.

Obama aides and advisers were trying to show they can react quickly to an economic landscape that continues to slide downward. The Labor Department announced that employers shed 51,000 jobs in July, the seventh straight month of job losses which now total 463,000. The unemployment rate rose last month from 5.5 percent to 5.7 percent.

Those numbers elicited very different responses from the presidential candidates....

McCain is playing "The Republican Game" of "More of the Same."

The Dangerous Game of More of the Same


This is what the nation's 'gas lines' looked like in 1973 with the OPEC Oil Embargo. Since then the USA's answer under Republican leadership, thirty long years of lack of innovation or change, was to use less energy to achieve the same result. In other words, fuel efficient internal cumbustion engines were perferred in order to 'make the resources last longer.' There was no 'switch' to an electric car rather than continued dependence on oil itself.

What McCain wants to do is no different than what Nixon did in the 1970s. We witnessed the building of the Trans-Alaskan Pipeline in response to the the OPEC Oil Embargo. Now, John McCain wants to drill offshore of the USA for marginal amounts of oil that might exist there to attempt to have a 'traditional' Republican answer. It's hideous to continue a strategy already 30 decades old with finite answers.

This is a picture of a stretch of the Trans-Alaskan Pipeline. The 'sliders' noted is to assist the pipleline to be resiliant to Alaskan earthquakes along the Denali Fault. This is an extreme measure that is not an answer to energy or transportation of the USA. It is a 'bandaid' and that is all offshore oil drilling is as well. Noted, the sliders have a limit.

It took this long to figure it out? Its no surprise to me that Bush/Cheney poisoned their own populous.

The anthrax attacks were too sophisticated to believe the Bush/Cheney White House didn't approve. John Ashcroft tried to derail the reality of the suspect by accusing Hatfield. I think this story needs the attention it deserves.

This is EVIDENCE of a government intent on destroying 'the truth' and using an issue of WMD as a lead into an illegal war that compromised American national security. This isn't about politics, it is about the 'degree' of culpability of the Executive Branch in exploiting the murderous activities of its own military.

The American people are at risk. No one in the Executive Branch is innnocent. NO ONE !!! They used the fear from this episode and the trauma of September 11th to wage a war that was unnecessary and contrived in Iraq.


U.S. to pay $2.8 million to settle anthrax lawsuit (click here)
Reuters Published: Friday, August 01, 2008
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Justice Department said on Friday it would pay former Army scientist Steven Hatfill over $2.8 million to settle his lawsuit accusing officials of violating his privacy rights by talking to the media and unfairly implicating him in anthrax attacks in 2001....

John Ashcroft never resumed investigation once it was decided the one to lay blame on was a FORMER biologicial weapons expert. Hatfield's lawsuit was settled leaving open the question, "Who done it?" With Democrats in the majority of the House and Senate the question wasn't going to lay fallow.

Biological Warfare Experts Questioned in Anthrax Probe (click here)
More Than Two Dozen Homes Searched by FBI
By Guy Gugliotta and Dan Eggen, Washington Post Staff Writers
The FBI said yesterday it is focusing on about 30 U.S.-based biological warfare experts in its investigation of last year's anthrax attacks, and has searched the homes of more than two dozen in recent months -- always with the owner's consent.
The FBI said that former Army researcher Steven J. Hatfill, whose Frederick apartment was searched Tuesday, was on the floating short list of "persons of interest," but noted both publicly and in private meetings last week that Hatfill is not a suspect in the case.
Ben Haddad, spokesman for the San Diego-based defense contractor Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC), confirmed that Hatfill was a full-time SAIC employee in 1999 when he and collaborator Joseph Soukup commissioned a report investigating the consequences of a hypothetical anthrax attack by mail....

To exploit murderous activities of its own military as a lead up to war is criminal. There is no getting around it. The criminality of this Executive Branch is more evident today with

Anthrax suspect dies in apparent suicide (click here)
By David Willman
Los Angeles Times
Article Launched: 08/01/2008 01:31:11 AM PDT
A top government scientist who helped the FBI analyze samples from the 2001 anthrax attacks has died in Maryland from an apparent suicide, just as the Justice Department was about to file criminal charges against him for the attacks, the Los Angeles Times has learned....

Chronicle of Anthrax Attacks, as it appeared in Europe, that occurred immediately after the attacks of September 11, 2001 (click here).

Mail sent to Microsoft tests positive for anthrax
Saturday, 13 October 2001 22:51

A letter sent from Malaysia to a Microsoft office in Nevada has tested positive for traces of anthrax, according to local authorities there. The authorities in Carson City said today that at present there were no reported cases of anthrax infection stemming from the incident.Meanwhile, the US Vice President, Dick Cheney, has said that there could be links between the confirmed four cases of anthrax in America and Osama bin Laden.Mr Cheney said that there was ample evidence that bin Laden's network had been trained in the spread of biological and chemical weapons....

FBI indicates anthrax threat originated in US

Saturday, 10 November 2001 20:50

The FBI has given its closest indication yet that it believes the anthrax outbreak originated at home rather than abroad.The FBI says that the suspect is probably an adult male who may have referred to the US attacks in his messages only as a decoy. Agents believe he is a loner and not given to confrontation....

Also at Wiki (click here).

The anthrax attacks was to introduce the 'concept' of WMD. The evidence pointed to the source as the USA because of the sophisticated nature of the anthrax.

EIGHT days later. Count them, eight very short days later. No American Scientist involved with WMD could act out of some kind of personality disorder within eight days in such a sophisticated attacks alone. We all know the coveted use of the military's PSYOPS.

GIVE

ME

A

BREAK

Thank you to the LA Times. But, will the real truth behind this man's death ever be known. Nah.

September 19, 2001

A letter addressed to Jennifer Lopez containing a Star of David and a bluish powder arrived in the Sun's mailroom in the American Media headquarters. Several people handled the letter, and Stevens sniffed some of the powder....

Site of Anthrax Attack Reopens (click here)
BOCA RATON, Fla. - The tabloid newspaper building targeted in the fatal anthrax mailings in 2001 reopened with newsrooms still marked by Sun and Globe signs and file drawers bearing labels such as "JFK Jr."
The contents were included when American Media Inc. sold the building in 2003. Developer David Rustine bought it for $40,000 and said he spent millions on decontamination and maintenance.
The headquarters for the National Enquirer, Sun and Globe newspapers was the first known target in the mailings that killed five people starting a month after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Bob Stevens, a photo editor, died Oct. 5, 2001, from inhaling anthrax mailed to the building.

Exxon Mobil 2Q profit sets US record, shares fall.

Let me get this right. McCain's answer to the USA Energy Crisis and failing economy is to increase the production of the most expensive and extensive energy source in the world.

Oil pervades every aspect of investment globally, including food sources. To that reality, McCain wants to increase oil production so this 'fininte' source of fuel will continue to cause problems with economies at every level.

I

DON'T

THINK

SO !!!!

Exxon Mobil 2Q profit sets US record, shares fall
By JOHN PORRETTO – 1 hour ago
HOUSTON (AP) — Exxon Mobil Corp. reported second-quarter earnings of $11.68 billion Thursday, the biggest quarterly profit ever by any U.S. corporation, but the results were well short of Wall Street expectations and its shares fell.
The world's largest publicly traded oil company said net income for the April-June period came to $2.22 a share, up from $10.26 billion, or $1.83 a share, a year ago.
Revenue rose 40 percent to $138.1 billion from $98.4 billion in the year-earlier quarter.
Excluding an after-tax charge of $290 million related to an Exxon Valdez court settlement, earnings amounted to $11.97 billion, or $2.27 per share.
Analysts on average expected Exxon Mobil to earn $2.52 a share on revenue of $144 billion, according to a survey by Thomson Financial. The estimates typically exclude one-time items.
The record-setting results were largely expected, given that crude prices in the second quarter were nearly double what they were a year ago. Natural gas prices were significantly higher too....

The oceans are warming and with the loss of the Arctic Ocean ice expected in September, it is obvious our fisheries are a worry.

As food prices rocket, relief from the depths (click here)
Lobster costs fall, but demand still weakAs food prices rocket, relief from the depths
Boston GlobeConsumers, squeezed by rising prices on everything from milk to eggs to bread, are finding a rare - and surprising - bargain at the fish counter: The price of lobster is going down.
Lobster prices have declined, but demand has not increased, which has hurt lobstermen and such firms as James Hook in Boston, where Mario Hernandez checked stock.
(David L. Ryan/Globe staff)
By Devra First
Globe Staff / July 30, 2008
Consumers, squeezed by rising prices on everything from milk to eggs to bread, are finding a rare - and surprising - bargain at the fish counter: The price of lobster is going down.
Last year at this time, Boston-area lobstermen were getting $5 to $5.25 per pound, according to the Massachusetts Lobstermen's Association. This year they're getting only $4.50 a pound. That's translating to lower retail prices.
At Yankee Lobster and James Hook & Co., both located in Boston, the price for soft-shell lobsters - those that have recently molted and have less meat - is currently $6.99 a pound, down from last year's price of $7.99. Soft-shell lobsters represent the bulk of the local catch right now.
The harvest has been plentiful, yet demand has declined, say those in the industry. Consumers view lobster as a splurge, and with money tight, it's not a priority on the shopping list....


Rising school costs mean fewer bus routes, higher food prices (click here)
Districts will enforce 2-mile walking radius, make changes in cafeterias
BY KIMBERLINA ROCHA AND VICTOR GARCIA krocha@visalia.gannett.com and vdgarcia@visalia.gannett.com
July 30, 2008
Tulare County students will walk more and spend more this year as a result of cost-saving measures at area school districts.
Going down: The number of bus stops. Going up: The price of food.
Tulare Joint Union High School District estimates it will save $37,843 by eliminating 15 bus stops and enforcing its 2-mile walk radius. Students who live within 2 miles of a school site must walk to a "cluster" bus stop or directly to school.
Other transportation-related measures will have less of an effect on students' routines, officials say....

A soldier stands next to the body of a suicide bomber in Peshawar December 4, 2007. A woman suicide bomber blew herself up near a military checkpost in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar on Tuesday, but caused no casualties among the troops, police said.

REUTERS/Ali Imam (PAKISTAN)

Female suicide bomber killed in Pakistan blast: police

Tue Dec 4, 5:01 AM ET

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AFP) - A burka clad female suicide bomber blew herself up at a checkpost in northwest Pakistan Tuesday, in the country's first such attack involving a woman, police said. There were no other casualties in the blast in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar, which is near the tribal belt bordering Afghanistan where troops are battling Islamic militants, they said.

It happened in a high-security zone where intelligence services buildings and also a Christian convent school are located, provincial police chief Mohammad Sharif told AFP.

"This is the first suicide attack carried out by a woman in Pakistan. She was the single casualty," Sharif said.

Other officials also confirmed that the bomber was female."

The suicide bomber was a woman," senior police official Kadir Khan told AFP."

She came to the army checkpost, she was stopped but she blew herself up. No soldiers were injured in the blast.

"Military personnel and police cordoned off the area, an AFP reporter at the scene said. Shreds of a blue burka, a foot and pieces of flesh were lying on the road.

A security official at the scene said that the woman was thought to be an Afghan refugee aged about 40.

"She blew herself up. Nobody was injured or died," the official said.

Police earlier said the bombing was outside St Mary's convent school, one of Peshawar's top schools, and that it had killed one person.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

President Pervez Musharraf imposed a state of emergency in Pakistan on November 3, citing the need to curb a wave of Islamic militant violence in the northwest of the country.

Pakistani officials have previously said that militancy is thriving in giant refugee camps in the northwest and southwest where more than two million displaced Afghans are registered

"The Surge" failed on all counts. With men depleted in

We have witnessed female suicide bombers before. In Palestine and with the attack in Amman, Jordan (click here), the 'desperation' that leads women to mass killings is more than alarming.

In Palestine, women were the 'last straw' before the issue of peace became a serious one pursued by Palestine and Israel.

The Amman bomber was unsuccessful, but, she fully bought into the idea that her religious obligation, along with her husband would be fulfilled in such a violent act.

It is my guess that women in Iraq that are becoming suicide bombers are doing so because of the profound loss they are experiencing in this hideous war. We need to leave Iraq and allow the people in that country a 'respite' from occupation so they can find their own sense of 'civil peace.'



Violence In Iraq Takes On New Face
Number Of Suicide Bomb Attacks Carried Out By Women Has More Than Tripled Since Last Year
(CBS) In Iraq's volatile mix of race, religion and tribal rivalry, police say there's a common denominator in the continuing violence - gender.
According to the U.S. military in Iraq, women have carried the bombs in at least 27 attacks so far this year - more than triple the number of female suicide bombers in all of 2007, reports CBS News correspondent Richard Roth.
A joint assessment by the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security obtained by CBS News says the statistics reflect a growing combat role for females, aided by the fact that bombs are easy to hide under traditional women's clothing.
"It's much more difficult to inspect a female Muslim woman than it is a male Muslim because of religious sensitivities," said Steven Emerson, of the Investigative Project on Terrorism....




The Faces of Female Suicide Bombers (click here)
10/07/2007
By Fatima el Issawi
London, Asharq Al-Awsat- It no longer comes as a shock when one hears that a woman has carried out a suicide bomb attack. Lately, the media has made frequent reports of suicide operations, both successful and failed, that were carried out by women. Today, females are rivaling men in a field that was once regarded by Jihadi literature and fiqh to be strictly a man's job.
But who were the first women to actually sacrifice themselves for the sake of a cause? What do we know about the psychological motives and the political and social backgrounds surrounding these women and which are responsible for transforming them into ferocious female ‘jihadists’?
A look at the information available through the press reveals little about these women, however it is useful in defining an outline that may answer some questions. These limited sources reveal that female suicide bombers can be split into two groups, generally speaking, in terms of social profiles and motives behind their involvement.
In the first group women, venture into ‘martyrdom’ driven by a dedication to the cause, or as a means of expressing their resentment of the gross injustice for which there remains no other resort except sacrificing their own lives. Moreover, these women are encouraged by the fact that their brothers or relatives have been killed in circumstances related to this unjust reality and as such, that loss becomes the decisive factor in undertaking a suicide operation....

"The Hulk" falls of corruption. There is a god afterall. Stevens is Outta There !! Decades. This has been going on for decades !

Arnie has his hands full. If it isn't wildfires and mudslides, its earthquakes.

The USA economy is not in recession. It is simply crashing. Everywhere.

From Starbucks to foreclosures, the American economy is taking a nose dive unmatched by its recent past.

The university students of Massachusetts are now facing more hurdles to success. This is just more of the same in sequelae of Bush's Fiscal Disaster !

Student lender won't have loan money this season (kindly click on title to entry)
July 28, 2008 11:16 AM
The Massachusetts Educational Financing Authority today said it will not be able to provide any student loans this fall, which could leave tens of thousands of families in the lurch just weeks before college classes begin.
The nonprofit lending authority said it was unable to secure funding to provide private student loans. It is contacting more than 40,000 students and families to whom it has made loans in the past, to urge them to seek other options.
"As a result of our problems and the continued dislocation of the capital markets, we have been unable to raise funds for the coming academic year,'' said Thomas M. Graf, executive director of the group....